


The Dead Tell No Tale

by OblivionTime



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Character Death, Gore, Multi, corpse party stuff, dark themes, not a fic for the weak-hearted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-13 21:24:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 113,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17495636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OblivionTime/pseuds/OblivionTime
Summary: After a charm gone wrong, Maka, Soul, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, Kid and Marie end up at a haunted school. Dead bodies are around every corner and the threat of death looms over them in the shape of three ghost girls, a man with a chainsaw and other unknown threats lurking in the dark. There is no way out. No way to find each other. Only death is certain.





	1. Sachiko We Beg of You

**Author's Note:**

> It's here! It's finally finished! This has been one of the most difficult fics I have ever written, but now it is finished!
> 
> For those of you who have played/read/watched Corpse Party, you know there are a lot of dark themes and death. This is not a story for everybody! If you aren't familiar with the Corpse Party Universe and isn't a fan of horror stories, DO NOT READ THIS FIC! People will die and there will be themes of not so pleasant stuff. This is your only warning.
> 
> I had the most amazing Purr who made a super cool gifs of this fic. You can find them here: http://darkpurply.tumblr.com/post/182185261918/resbang-2018-the-dead-tell-no-tale

Chapter 1

_Sachiko We Beg of You_

Laughter resonated within their home classroom as the seven teens sat in a perfect circle. Black*Star held the candle in front of him and casted haunting shadows disarranging his usual soft and kind face into a horrifying image.

"The librarian went closer and closer…" A wide grin spread on his face as Liz used Tsuabki as a shield, peeking over her shoulder. "… she went over to the student staring out of the window. She patted the student's shoulder and the student didn't respond. The librarian shook the student's shoulder and his head fell off and landed on the ground. All of his teeth were gone and the librarian knew the tooth fairy was real."

Behind Tsubaki Liz quivered madly as she clung onto her friend.

Patty sitting beside her sister laughed like a mad man as she slapped the floor as if the story hadn't been a horror one, but a comedy.

Black*Star growled as he lowered the candle from his face, glaring at Patty. "Hey! You aren't supposed to laugh!"

"But it's funny!" Patty defended.

"It's not! Okay! Having your teeth pulled out and taken by a demon isn't funny!"

"But everybody knows the tooth fairy is good! She leaves money behind and she makes good use of your spoiled teeth."

"Yeah, that story was lame," Soul agreed as he placed his hand on Black*Star's shoulder. "The only one you managed to scary was Liz and she has been scared the whole day!"

Liz threw Soul a deadly look. "Shut up."

Soul snorted. "And what are you going to do? It's not like you will be able to walk with your shaky legs."

Liz gave him the finger.

"Honestly, will you two never make peace?" Kid shook his head slowly from his seat beside Maka. "It's just a bad ghost story. And badly told too."

"Hey!" Black*Star barked. "It was good."

Maka blew a raspberry. "Yeah right. Pausing to say if it was you in that situation you wouldn't even break a sweat is telling a story badly."

"Oh yeah? If you can tell a story better then go on right ahead!"

"Oh no, no, no, no, no!" Liz quickly protested the moment Black*Star closed his mouth, waving her hand in distress as she hid behind Tsubaki's shoulder. "Please, anybody else than Maka! Maka always tells the scariest stories ever!" Liz squeaked.

"It's alright sis," Patty soothed her sister. "It's just a story."

"Actually, this story I'm about to tell you took place within this very building." Maka said as she grabbed the candle and held it in front of her; the light casted eerie shadows on her face, deranging her usual soft cheeks and cute features.

"Please don't Maka. Can we at least turn on the light?"

"Oh no." Gently Maka shook her head. "This incident actually happened during a rainy day, just like this one, around this very time of the day, a hundred years ago."

All the teenagers' eyes were on her, holding their breaths at Maka's too serene voice.

"A teacher wandered the halls of the elementary school, making sure all the children had gone home for the day. After checking the last classroom on the top floor, she closed and locked the door." Maka imitated the creaking door. Liz squeezed her eyes tightly shut as if it would make the story disappear. Soul watched Maka's composed expression as cool terror wandered up his spine. "She headed down the stairs when suddenly―" her voice crescendo, "―the step under her foot broke and she tumbled down the stairway. She shrieked in pain and instantly, her scream came to an end. When her body hit the ground, her neck was broken."

"Is that the end?" Liz cracked her eye open.

Maka smirked, the shadows on her face made her look insane. "No. The news of the teacher's death reached the public. The community questioned the safety of the school, and eventually a decision was made. The school was closing. The principle was devastated, so ashamed his beloved school was closing. He was so ashamed of himself he covered his face with a mask and jumped off the building to his death."

"Boring!" Black*Star exclaimed, arms boastfully tied behind his head, but everybody had caught the slight tremble from his hands.

"That's not the end." Maka turned to her childhood friend. "The school was closed, but from the day of the accident and to the day the school closed, people reported hearing voices from the corridors of a female, calling for anybody still left in the building."

Soul let out a shaky breath, trying to maintain his cool and the fact that he did absolutely not under any circumstances have goose bumps on his arm hidden under his leather jacket. Maka was way too good of a storyteller. She would make even the most stable person uneasy. Even their "god" didn't want to admit it, he was scared too.

"Come on, that's just a bunch of bullshit you've come up with! That does not have a _based on a true story_ stamp on it!" Black*Star bolstered.

"Actually anything can have a _based on a true story_ stamp and be completely legal," Kid pitched it.

"Even if it wasn't true, you were scared," Soul spoke.

"Hey! I wasn't!"

"Oh yeah? How come you were biting your nails the entire time?" Soul grabbed Black*Star's wrist and he raised his hands, showing off the bite-damaged nails hanging loose from his fingernails and the sore irritated skin on his fingers.

Black*Star slapped Soul's hand away as their friends laughed at Black*Star and he hid his hand from them. "Uncool. You were supposed to be on my side!"

"Can we _please_ just turn on the lights!" Liz begged, her voice shaking and her nails digging into Tsubaki's shoulder. Tsubaki empathetically patted her hand calmly.

"Okay fine." Maka stood up and she went over to the light switch just by the classroom door and flipped it on. The classroom was once again bathed in light and the rain drops dripping on the glass was seen. The classroom was already cleaned and ready for class on Monday after their Halloween festival the school held. All the scary Halloween decorations were no more around and their bloody school costumes were gone and in their lockers.

Liz let out a sigh of relief and she went slack against Tsubaki.

"That was a lot of fun!" Patty cheered as she jumped up on her legs to Maka blowing out her candle. "Maka you sure do know a lot of ghost stories!"

"Thanks. I get a lot from Miss Lady Arachne's blog and Tezca Tlipoca's work."

"Oh please can _somebody_ stop her before nobody can shut her up," Soul muttered and he earned a hard glare from Maka, but she didn't say anything to him. Even a tease wasn't enough to earn a sound from her directed toward him.

"It's a very interesting story. You should write a script for us to play out in the theatre club," Kid suggested as he rested his chin against his palm, obviously coming up with the idea at the moment.

"That would actually be really cool—"

Soul rolled his eyes into his head as Maka gushed toward Kid when the lights went out.

Liz let out a nervous laugh. "W-w-what is going on?!"

"Who turned the lights off?!" Patty exclaimed.

"What the fuck did you do Maka?" Soul accused.

"I-I didn't do anything!" Maka defended.

"Bullshit! You're the one standing closest to the switch!" Black*Star sneered.

"It's not because of the light switch," Kid said. "Look out in the corridor! Even the lights outside are off!"

"It must be a black out or a plug must've gone." Tsubaki reasoned.

"It's not a black out. Look out of the window. The lights in the other windows are still on. A plug must've gone," Kid said.

"A plug at this hour? We didn't even _use_ any energy sources!" Liz exclaimed. "Oh man what is going on?!"

"Everyone be quiet!" Maka overpowered her classmates' panicked voices. "Listen."

Everyone grew quiet. Liz quivered in fear as she bit on her nails, clinging onto Tsubaki as tightly as she could. Someone grew closer to Maka from the sounds of soles as quietly being dragged toward her. From the direction of the source of the sound, it belonged to someone she did _not_ want close to her.

All the teens listened. Outside in the corridor something was dragged against the floor and then thudded. Something was dragged and then a thud rung outside in the dark corridor. The pattern repeated and it grew closer.

It was footsteps.

Soul held his breath as he stood close to Maka, ready for whatever would happen. Tsubaki grabbed Liz's hand and squeezed it tightly.

The footsteps had Soul's heart rushing within his chest and his senses in readiness as the sound of the footsteps stopped. Right outside of the classroom. The door handle was pushed down slowly and the door creaked as it slowly cracked open.

"Is aNYoNe iN tHeRE?"

The teens shrieked loudly in horror.

The lights were suddenly turned on and the door slid further open, revealing none other than their homeroom teacher, Miss Marie Mjolnir.

Miss Marie let out a hearty laughter as she rested against the door frame. "You were all so scared!" Maka went up to her teacher, earning confused glances from Soul when she gave Miss Marie a high-five and grinned just as wide.

"I call that a mission accomplished!" Maka cheered.

"Wait…! Was this just a prank?!" Liz screamed.

"Can't your teacher pull one simple prank on you?" Miss Marie grinned wide. "Oh I haven't had this much fun in a while! Maka here explained her plan and I just couldn't resist! You know I was young once and I pulled a similar prank on my classmates like this one."

"What the fuck?!" Black*Star screamed and his hands balled. "Are you trying to overshadow the mighty prankster ME! You can't overshadow the GOD of PRANKS with lame ass pranks like this!"

"Oh yeah?" Maka crossed her arms over her chest. "This was just the beginning! I still haven't forgotten the time you put a tarantula in my hair!"

"Come on, it was just a prank bro—"

Soul put his hand on Black*Star's shoulder. "I suggest you don't finish that sentence if you want to live."

Black*Star blew a raspberry. "As if she could take me down! I'm the almighty ME! Miss tiny tits has nothin' on me!"

Miss Marie clapped her hands and earned her students' attention and broke off the glare war between Maka and Black*Star that was just starting. "It's getting late and your parents must start wondering where you are. The janitor will soon come and start locking the school up."

"Wait hold on!" Maka ran over to her messenger bag she had left on her desk and swung it over her shoulder. She opened her lid and she started running her hands through it before she pulled up an odd paper doll; one that had abnormally long arms going down to the paper doll's knees. Maka turned toward Tsubaki as she held the paper in her hands. "Since this is your last day of school before you're transferring to Japan, I thought we could do this charm."

It was right. Tsubaki was transferring. Her parents had grown tired of the life in the USA and longed to return home to Japan where their older son was already studying at university. All of their friends were shocked when she broke the news to them of her transferring at the beginning of their senior year. They thought her parents would wait until she had finished high school, but they longed for Japan and their summer vacation there hadn't quenched their thirst, instead it had poured gasoline on the flame.

It was heart-breaking to lose their friend. Now Maka would no longer have her only friend she could speak Japanese with. Liz wouldn't have her best friend around and Black*Star would lose her. The Halloween festival was supposed to be a fun time with their friends and classmates, but instead it had been rough for the friend group. They were supposed to have the day of their lives and have a fun Halloween weekend together with plenty of horror movies and ghost stories and sleepovers, but instead it would be gloomy with Tsubaki packing up her last things and going on a plane to Japan.

A soft smile had spread on Tsubaki's lips as she quizzically glanced at the paper doll. "What kind of charm is it?"

"It's a charm to bind us all together. After we do this charm, we will always have a part of each other with us and we will never be apart."

Tsubaki paused before she nodded. "Okay, let's do it."

A wide smile spread on Maka's face and she nodded eagerly. "Everyone gather around in a circle."

The teens didn't question it. They all gathered in a circle and their homeroom teacher was left looking at them, until Tsubaki noticed it.

"Please join us Miss Marie," Tsubaki encouraged.

"You want me to join?"

"Of course!" Patty chirped. "You're our homeroom teacher!"

Miss Marie didn't object. Quite frankly, she was happy of the impact she had made on these kids. After she had graduated from university and gotten her first teaching job at Shibusen High, she was assigned their class, and she couldn't be happier. As much as she taught them, they taught her too. When she was in the process of divorcing her ex-husband Frank, the kids had been understanding and kind when she was more than flustered and the classes she had to cancel to meet with her divorce attorney. The kids reminded her of how foolish she had been when she was young. Letting the true love of her life go in favour of acting as a caretaker of the mentally ill man who under no circumstances wanted any help, simply wanted her company and her to take care of his home and patching him up when he had his hallucinations and psychotic breaks. She hadn't been able to take it anymore and, the kids had helped her realise the mistake she had done.

It was emotional to see one of her students leaving her. She dreaded the day of their high school graduation and she would have to let this wonderful class of bright and passionate students go.

This one last engagement in a playful charm she could do. For Tsubaki.

Black*Star and Patty made room between them for their teacher and Maka held out the paper doll toward them.

"You have to listen carefully if you want the charm to succeed. I want all of you to grab a hold of the paper doll and close your eyes. Then you'll chant _Sachiko we beg of you_ for everyone present. That will be… six… seven… eight. Eight times."

"A perfect eight. Marvelous," Kid said pleased as he looked at his friends, earning smiles from them.

"After everyone has said it eight times, we will rip the paper doll and it will be done!" Maka cheered. "Everybody got it memorised?"

"Say _Sachiko we beg of you_ eight times. Rip the paper doll. We got it," Soul repeated her instructions.

"Good. Now everybody grab a hold of the paper doll and close your eyes."

The classmates and their homeroom teacher grabbed a hold of the paper doll and their eyes fluttered shut. Silence filled the air as they chanted the words in their mind. Moments went by until they cracked their eyes open and Maka was first to break the silence.

"Are everybody done?" She received nods from her friends. "Then rip it!"

Everybody pulled at their piece of the doll and it tore into eight pieces.

"Good job everyone!" Maka beamed. "Now you keep your piece of the doll on you and we will forever be together forever!"

Black*Star raised his eyebrow as he peered at his piece. "How the hell will a piece of paper keep us together?"

"It doesn't work like that. It's more like a token. Whenever we look at the scrap of paper we will think of each other and everybody who were present during the charm," Kid explained with ease, and Maka nodded at the precis conclusion.

"Exactly. You can keep your piece of your paper in your student ID so you can always have it close to you."

Soul quizzically looked at the paper, but he did as Maka said and slid the paper inside of his student ID holder.

Miss Marie clapped her hands and earned the attention of the students. "We need to leave before the janitor locks us all inside. Grab your belongings and we shall all say our goodbyes outside—"

Miss Marie's voice drowned when the ground started to shake violently. Maka gasped loudly and Soul quickly latched onto her, stabilizing her from falling to the ground.

"Everybody get under the desks!" Miss Marie declared.

Lamps swung violently, one after another the cord snapped and hit the ground.

"Look out." Liz tackled Tsubaki out of the way, milliseconds away from a lamp crashing on her skull.

Floor boards creaked loudly, nails sprouting from the floor as if they were a breed of iron flowers. The wood cracked, splitting open and falling down to an endless abyss. Screams filled the air as the gap rapidly grew larger. Their desks one by one fell down into the growing hole growing rapidly closer to them. The floor underneath Soul and Maka's feet disappeared, clinging desperately onto each other as they fell. Maka reached toward their friends as if they could catch them from their fate. Tsubaki and Liz screamed at the top of their lungs as they fell down, the floor completely collapsed and all of them fell into the strange abyss.


	2. Welcome

Chapter 2

_Welcome_

Maka gasped loudly, sitting straight up into a sitting position. What a horrible nightmare. The earthquake had hit them out of the blue without a warning of the incoming destructing force to befall upon them. Of course it was a nightmare, their phones would've gone off, alerting them of the danger―

Her nails clawed at her shirt. Her eyes fell to her hand bunching her school uniform shirt. It wasn't her pyjama shirt. Her heart sank in her chest.

This wasn't her room.

Small desks fit for young children were flipped over as if someone had gone berserk within the classroom. Rain hit the windows and the moonlight was the only source lighting up the room. The light blue curtains that used to decorate the windows were a dark grey and torn as if someone had tampered with them. The high-tech whiteboard and the computer system were gone and instead a blackboard decorated the wall. She squinted as she stood up on her feet, brushing the dirt off her skirt. The moonlight showed dark lines on the blackboard, but she couldn't quite make out what it was.

This wasn't her classroom either. The floor boards were far darker than the light brown covering their entire school. It was dark and it could contribute to the illusion of the darker floor boards. Somehow, this classroom had to be within their school.

She remembered. They had performed the Sachiko Ever After charm she found on the internet to bind them all together for Tsubaki, then the whole room started shaking. The floor was ripped up and they all fell.

This had to be a joke. One big fat joke. One of Black*Star and Soul's weird pranks they pulled. This had to be one elaborate late Halloween prank they had planned on them. One last prank to send off Tsubaki with something she could never forget. Black*Star was the person who would pull something like this, one last prank to cement their time together.

Her tooth sunk into her lower lip, chewing on it anxiously. But Black*Star wasn't a planner, she was sure it didn't even exist within his small vocabulary. Black*Star and Soul's pranks were always short and sweet, throwing water-filled balloons in the corridor or climbing up the wall of the school and writing his autograph on it in obnoxious red paint.

There was no logical support behind her theory. Black*Star just wasn't capable of arranging and executing something as detailed and complex like this.

Her eyes widened when her gaze moved over to a tumbled over desk and saw the familiar white sleeve from the male uniform of Shibusen High. "Soul!" she exclaimed, pushing the tumbled over desk away and diving to his side. She lashed her hands on his shoulders, shaking him violently. "Soul, hey, wake up." To her relief, he groaned and muttered for five more minutes. "No Soul, look."

He sensed distress in her voice and his eyes fluttered open. At first, his eyes widened seemingly at the view of her, before he shot up straight up when he noticed their surroundings.

"What… the… fuck," he slowly said as his astonished eyes drank in their ominous setting. "What the heck has Black*Star done?"

She flinched at the same process of thoughts his turned. She anxiously fiddled with her hands. "Black*Star can't have done this." Her voice was barely audible, barely a whisper, but Soul's gaze returned to hers, obviously caught her words.

"Black*Star _had_ to have done this―"

"You out of all the people should know Black*Star isn't capable of organizing and planning something like this."

His mouth was left ajar, ready to spit arguments at her, but none came. He too, knew too well, planning was outside of his reach. His mind was too erratic, once he got an idea, all the supplies had to be accessible within the hour, one of the many reasons why his locker was always stuffed with balloons, itching powder and various other prank items.

"This…" Soul wet his lips with his tongue. "If this isn't Black*Star… who would've done this?"

"I-I don't know," Maka confessed. Disappointment weighted down her shoulders. There was always a logical explanation to everything. There was never a problem she did _not_ manage to solve. Right now, her mind was blank. The earthquake, the setting of the room, it all just didn't make any sense.

"Maybe this is all one of those hallucinations?" Soul spoke up. His hands lashed onto her face, tugging at her cheeks, feeling up her face. Maka spluttered as her mouth stretched and then mushed together. "But you do feel kinda real."

She slapped away his hands, rubbing her now red pinched cheeks. "Of course I'm real, you idiot!" she hissed.

"Yeah of course. Only an illusion would say that―" the air was knocked out of his lungs when her sharp elbow implanted in his ribcage.

"Yeah, you're totally the real Maka," Soul muttered under his breath, massaging his side. One day she was going to break a rib. "Then come up with a better explanation, Einstein."

But she couldn't. The theory of the earthquake being a hallucination of her dehydrated mind after running between the classrooms to make sure their Halloween festival was running smoothly and now she was dreaming didn't seem to quite fit in. The setting seemed too real, too vivid and horrifying for her mind to create. If it all was one dream, Soul's pinches on her cheeks would've awoken her. She seriously doubted this was one group hallucination of their classroom.

There was no logic behind where they were.

Maka stood up on her feet, slapping her clothes and the dust soared to the floor. "Let's just… find a way out. This place is giving me the…" her words faltered. Her eyes caught site of someone lying on the floor with their back toward them at the door out of the classroom. Soul followed Maka's line of sight, standing up in order to catch the person.

"Liz?" Soul questioned, squinting his eyes.

Maka slowly shook her head. "No…" She quickly hurried toward the person, coming to a sudden halt and gasping loudly, trying to muffle her own horror with her hands. The person proved to be a girl wearing a long traditional school uniform consisting of a long skirt and sailor-inspired top, but it was far from the scariest thing.

Her head… it was missing. Her neck was severed and dark red blood stained the floor. The missing head that was supposed to be attached to the body was four feet away in the corridor, dark hair strands covering the face and stuck to the dried liquid stained on the floor. The small patch of skin exposed from her knee-high socks and her skirt was pale, almost grey and dark veins pressed against her paper thin skin.

This… this couldn't be a _real_ one.

Maka muffled her scream with her hands, backpedalling into a desk which shrieked loudly as it was pushed backward on the floor.

"Maka?" Soul caught onto her distraught and hurried to her side, now seeing the corpse on display in the doorway. Visibly his nose wrinkled at the disgusting view of the severed neck and the blatant smell of copper and rotten flesh that had been forgotten for too long in the fridge. He turned away from her, emptying out his stomach from the lunch he ate earlier that day.

Maka's breathing quickened, hands fisting her hair. The view of the deceased girl made her knees tremble. This couldn't… this couldn't be _real_. There was no way― she couldn't be _dead_. Her knees gave in, she fell to the floor, hyperventilating. She could imagine her scream, actually _hear it_ , ringing in her mind before her head thudded to the ground, rolling away from her body. The sound involuntarily infiltrated her mind, there was no way for her to stop it, it played over and over and over again in her mind. For every attempt she tried at blocking her ears as if it was an external noise, it only grew louder and clearer than before.

It wouldn't stop.

_It wouldn't stop!_

She jumped when a warm hand was placed on her shoulder, eyes snapping toward Soul as he wiped his mouth with the hem of his sleeve. "Are you okay?" It was as if the volume of the scream was lowered as she focused on Soul.

This was crazy. This was insanity. What was going on?

"Um, yeah." She balled her hands, trying to conceal her trembling hands in her skirt from his watchful red eyes. She didn't know much about Soul, heck, the only reason they talked was because of Black*Star. Both of them were friends with Black*Star and as the idiot he was, Maka sometimes had to come and collect his sorry ass, and sometimes that included Soul. From the brief talks she had with Soul, she had quickly come to discover he had a very observant eye. He read her like an open book.

The concern in his eyes didn't disappear, he kept on staring at her, obviously not buying it.

She wet her lips, inhaling a breath of courage. "We should probably go and look for Kid and the others."

His facial expression didn't change the slightest. "Okay." He exhaled after a while.

She heaved herself up on her al dente noodle legs, supporting herself on the old dusty desk. "Kid!" she yelled, cupping her mouth. Her voice bounced around the walls, only her own voice resonating in the corridor answered her. "Black*Star!" she called, her voice disappearing down the corridor and the rain against the window took over.

"It seems like they aren't anywhere close to us." Soul pointed out.

Maka's eyes were drawn to the girl lying on the ground by the doorway. If they wished to leave the classroom, they had to go passed her. Maka gulped, with determined steps she went toward the deceased girl. It wasn't until when she went closer she noticed the thin metal wire drenched in dried blood that was stretched between the doorframes. She reached out toward the wire and with the barest of touch, it prickled her finger. Red beads rose from the spot she touched the wire until it created a blood drop. She put her hurt finger in her mouth.

The deceased girl maybe didn't see the wire and accidentally went into it. It could've been an accident about to happen. A cold sensation swept over her, chilling her spine for every second she stared at the wire. But why were the wire up in the first place? Had someone put it up with intensions of killing a person? And if she accidentally went into the wire, her whole head wouldn't have been severed from her body. Had she… had she _run_ into it? And… the direction she went from… she went _out_ of the classroom. Logically she couldn't piece the mystery together.

"Look what I found," Soul called. She turned around, seeing her messenger bag in his hand.

"My bag!" Maka exclaimed, hurrying over to him standing by the windows. She snatched her bag from his hand, propping it on one desk which hadn't tumbled over. She pushed the lid away and started going through her bag. Her stack of unlit candles and matches were there. A sigh of relief escaped her lips at the view of the roll of metal wire and the wire cutter she'd borrowed from the janitor to deal with a curtain situation in the classroom styled like a graveyard serving as the Halloween festival's food court. She had intended of returning them as soon as possible but she totally forgot it in the heat of running around between the various classrooms with different activities. As the class rep, it had been her duty making sure all the students could focus on their job. Alongside the wire cutter she found her notebook and her pen case. Everything seemed to be there.

"Take a look at this." She closed her bag and swung the strap over her shoulder. Soul stood by the window, inspecting it. She cocked her eyebrow and joined beside him. Her eyes fluttered with confusion at Soul's fingertips running over the contrasting dark window frame and the wallpaper. The dark wood was as if it was painted on the wall. She reached out and touched the glass, but instead of feeling the cool surface, it was as if she touched a painted wall.

"What is this?" Maka snapped, hands running over the "window", still seeing the rain splatter against the supposed glass. She slammed her hand against the window, but it wouldn't budge the slightest. It was as if the window was painted on the wall, not showing any signs of opening.

"I don't know where the heck we are, but this place is giving me the creeps," Soul said and he backed away from the window.

The place was giving Maka the creeps too. The room, the deceased girl, the windows― it was headache-inducing. It was as if she had tripped and fallen into a nightmare, except this was no dream, but one-hundred percent reality.

"We're getting out of here." Maka spun on the heel of her shoes, storming over to the closest chair and grabbed it.

"Woah, Maka―"

She ignored Soul and threw the chair. The wooden chair soared and hit the window. There was no crash of glass. The chair bounced against the wall as if it was a bouncy ball ricocheting back at her. It hit her upper body with full force and she and it tumbled to the floor.

"Maka!" Soul dived to her side in a hurry, pushing the chair away from her. "Are you alright?"

She groaned as she sat up, left arm aching and her shoulder pulsing with pain. "Yeah." She rubbed her hurting shoulder. "It'll probably bruise, but other than that, I'm fine."

Soul exhaled with relief. "Good."

"Seems like we won't be able to break those windows," Maka commented. "If we want to find our friends and get away from here, we probably should get out of the classroom."

Soul nodded. "Yeah." He stood up and offered her his hand. She rejected his outstretched hand and stood up on her own and Soul's hand was once again in his pocket. "I bet it won't take too long to find Black*Star."

"With his loud mouth, we'll find him within minutes,"

They both headed toward the doorway where the deceased girl laid.

"Wait." Maka grabbed Soul's forearm when they reached the doorway. Her hand dived inside of her bag and she retrieved the wire cutters. The two blades opened and found the wire between them, with a quick snip, the wire went flaccid and hung on the doorframe. "Now nobody can accidentally hurt themselves on it."

"Including you."

Her eyes darted to him, catching his red eyes glancing at the cut on her index finger. "Oh, it's nothing big at all. It will heal quickly." She wiped the dark blood on her blue skirt. "Let's just go."

"Right."

It felt entirely wrong stepping over the deceased girl's body. Her conscious kicked in and she felt bad for the girl. She was just… lying there dead like nobody cared for her. Nobody came to aid her. Her corpse just… laid there and decayed. When Maka and her friends found a way out, she would make sure to come in contact with the police and inform them about her.

The corridor was equally bad as the classroom. The wooden floor was just as bad, if not worse, shape. The edges of the classroom sign showing _2-1_ was broken and paint was flaking. The windows decorating the walls along the endless corridor seemed to be painted on the wall just like the ones inside of the classroom, not showing any signs of opening. The rain continued to splatter against the window as the wood under their feet creaked loudly. To their right there were only a couple of meters separating them from a stairway going both up and down while to their left the corridor stretched and stretched as if it was endless.

"Wow." Maka's eyes widened. She turned toward the left and jogged down the corridor.

"H-hold on!" Soul caught on and ran after her.

Maka came to a shrieking halt approximately twenty meters away, holding her arm out and Soul crashed into it. In front of them stretched a large gap where the floor disappeared. Floor boards jutted out and dangled from the edges as if they would break from the slightest pressure.

"Oh shit," Soul breathed as they both looked down. Cold shivers ran down her spine at the view of the silhouette of a body. She narrowed her eyes, she could catch the view of blue pants.

"Kid!" she exclaimed. She flipped on her heel and headed toward the stairway.

"Maka!" Soul called after her, his steps ringing throughout the corridor. Maka's feet banged against the wooden steps of the stairway as she hurried down it. She grabbed a hold of the wooden pole at the end of the level, swinging herself to maintain the momentum as she flew down the last steps.

"Maka, slow down!" Soul sneered at her.

She ran down the corridor in the same direction as the corridor above them. Even though the corridor was dark, the little light from the moon provided just enough for her to see where she set her foot. The hole in the ceiling and the body came into view.

"Kid!" Maka dived to the body's side, grabbing a hold of the shoulders and flipped it around.

It wasn't Kid.

Instead of seeing golden eyes she was met with hollow blue eyes, completely lacking the spark of life. Mouth was ajar and tongue hung lifelessly out of his mouth as maggots crawled through his nostrils.

Maka gasped and catapulted away from the body, crawling backwards away from it till she bumped into the wall. Her breathing came fast as she tried to muffle her sound as if she wasn't scared, as if the corpse on the floor didn't faze her.

"Oh damn." Soul joined her side and she heard Soul puke once again, but she didn't hear it splash against the ground. She was trying to hold it in as well.

"I tried to tell you." he spoke after he made sure he was in control of his stomach. "It's not our uniform."

After she stabilized her breathing as well as she could in this cursed school, she looked over at him. "How could you tell from up there?"

"Because I'm not jumping to conclusions." He kneeled down beside her. "Are you okay?"

Maka gulped. As soon as she found herself beside the dead, weird sensations washed over her. It was as if she could hear the dead. She could swear she could hear the dead male whisper in her ear _donttrustanyonedonttrustanyonedonttrustanyone_ but it couldn't. It had to be her imagination.

"… yeah." She stood up, supporting herself on the wall. "Let's just find an exit fast. This place gives me the creeps."

Soul nodded slowly, his red blank eyes carefully watched her every expression.

"We should be on the ground level." Maka spoke as she gazed out of the windows. Outside green leaves decorated the trees branches and a ceaseless forest stretched around the building. "There should be an exit somewhere."

"If we stay on this floor, we should bump into one eventually," Soul commented. "Let's make sure we don't lose each other."

Maka nodded. "Right."

They moved passed the corpse, continuing down the corridor. They went passed the classrooms with windows into the classrooms. Through the old ragged see-through curtain, everything seemed the same as in the classroom they woke up in, old chairs and desks in disarray. Their steps echoed in the corridor as they wandered down it, keeping an eye out for a door out of the horrifying school.

Maka quickly came to a stop, sharping her hearing. Soul stiffened by her side.

It was barely audible, but she had caught up on it mixing with their soles hitting the wooden floor. In the distance, there was a low humming sound of a machine. Maka sharpened her hearing, the space between her eyebrows wrinkling in the process. It grew louder and steps resonated in the hallway.

Was that… a chainsaw?

She recognized the low humming of the engine and the occasional sound of the chain rattling.

Maka grabbed a hold of Soul's forearm and as silently as she could, she backpedalled away from the noise of the chainsaw. In the seemingly haunted school, a person wielding a chainsaw couldn't be good news. Soul understood, silently backpedalling alongside her.

They hurriedly tiptoed to the first classroom door. Maka twisted the handle. Locked. Sweat pearled on her forehead as she persistently tried to open the door. She cursed silently and they hurriedly tiptoed to the next classroom to the sound of the chainsaw getting closer and closer. Maka pulled at the handle, receiving a click. As quietly as they could, she swung the door open, flinching at the loud creak of the hinges and hurried inside. Silently the door clicked shut.

The hum of the chainsaw's engine reached the end of the corridor, humming louder than ever and the heavy steps of the boots the chainsaw person wore banged against the wooden floor.

Maka held her breath. She crouched down, pulling Soul's sleeve. He followed, kneeled down beside her, pressing themselves against the wall right under the windows in to the classroom out to the hallway.

The heavy boots and the humming from the chainsaw grew louder, and louder, and louder. All the muscles in Maka's body tensed when she caught sight of the silhouette of the person wielding the chainsaw through the thin curtain. Painfully slowly the person moved passed the classroom, every heavy step of the person's boots seemed to last for decades.

Maka balled her hands, fisting her skirt as the person moved passed the classroom. Silently Maka spun on her feet, her trembling hand moved toward the curtain and―

Soul's hand grabbed her wrist, her gaze moved over to him slowly shaking his head, disapproving her intentions. She let him lower her hand. Her gaze moved back toward the silhouette, seeing the long silhouette of the chainsaw in the person's hand. The person stood tall, abnormally tall, and broad shoulders indicating a male.

The silhouette disappeared as it continued down the corridor, the engine still resonating through the corridor and the heavy steps making Maka cringe.

They stayed quiet, Soul's hand frozen on her wrist as they waited out for the noise of the chainsaw to disappear. As it slowly diminuendo, they stayed quiet until it was completely silent.

Maka sighed heavily, unknown of the breath she had held in. "That was too close."

"No kidding. Who even was that guy?" Soul sunk down, leaning his head against the wall as if the experience had sucked all the energy out of him.

"I don't know." Maka pulled her wrist free from his grip and pushed the curtains away, peeking out as if the chainsaw guy was still around. "I think it's for the best to stay away from that guy."

"Agree." Soul nodded.

"We should probably try to find the others or at least warn them of the guy. If he's behind any of the two student's deaths, he's dangerous."

"How do you know he has done it?"

"Who else would? A guy walking around with a chainsaw is suspicious. Who even gets a hold of a _chainsaw_ in a place like this?" her hands balled. "And with two bodies lying around in the corridors… he must've seen them and… obviously he didn't care about them."

"Okay, I get it." Soul scratched his head. "Chainsaw guy isn't good news."

"I bet it was him who put up the metal wire by the door to classroom 2-1," Maka said.

"Yeah, probably. We should probably find an exit fast before the chainsaw dude returns."

"Wait." Maka said and halted Soul in his movement. Maka flipped her lid of her bag open, retrieving one of her candles and her box of matches. "We should probably leave behind a note. You think they will recognize my candle?"

Soul blew a raspberry as she placed the items on the floor. "There's not a single student in our _grade_ who doesn't recognize your candles."

"Good." Maka lit the candle and the classroom was bathed in a warm golden light. "Then they'll know it's from us." She blew out the fire on the match, leaving it on the floor. She let the fire melt some of the stearic, dripping on the floor before she settled the candled in the small pool of candle-grease. Cautiously she let go of the candle and it was stable. She threw the box of matches inside of her bag and retrieved her notebook and pen, quickly scribbling a quick note for their friends.

_Soul and I are together. We're both fine. We saw a guy with a chainsaw lurking around the corridor. Make sure to stay away from him. He's bad news._

"Good?" Maka asked Soul as he peered over her shoulder at her note.

"Yeah, I guess." Maka ripped the page from her notebook and placed it right by the candle. "Hopefully they'll find it."

"If they have any similar thoughts as us, they should find it. We got to keep our hopes up, right?"

Soul chuckled. "Yeah. We'll bust out of this place."

"That's the spirit." Maka put her belongings in her bag and closed the lid over it. "Come on, let's go."

Maka opened the classroom door and the corridor was pleasingly empty. They headed down the corridor till they reached the end where another stairway led up to the level they woke up on. The stairway upward was bombarded with chair, desks and shelves in a pile blocking their way up.

They rounded the corner and another endlessly long corridor appeared. The end of the corridor disappeared in the darkness. They kept on walking in the dark, listening carefully for the sound of the humming of the chainsaw.

"Look." Maka spoke up. Through the darkness, the wall they followed disappeared. Their steps hurried and they rounded the corner. It was as if the sun broke through the rainy clouds and angels descended from the sky singing. Right in front of them was the exit. Rows of shelves with old colourful nameplates elementary children had drawn were taped on the hat rack. Small dirty shoes were left on the floor without any care.

Soul audibly gulped. "This is not cool."

She felt it too. The colourful images the children had written their name on were neglected and the white paper had turned yellow. The shoes were a ghost of the children who _should've_ been wandering around the corridors, the children whose laughter should've replaced the sound of the humming engine of the chainsaw.

What had even happened here?

"Let's just get out of here." Maka stepped down on the step and strolled passed the shelves, ignoring the echo of the children's laughter and the rustle of jackets. It was all in her head, she repeated. The voices of the phantoms were all a construction of her fear. There was nothing to be afraid of.

Maka stopped in front of the exit, the double doors nailed shut with boards.

"No…" Soul dejectedly said. "This can't be happening."

"Don't assume the worst just yet." Maka dug through her bag and fished up her pair of wire cutter.

"How will that help us? It's not a hammer or a nail puller."

"It might just do us all the good we need." Maka pulled up another candle and her box of matches. "Can you light a candle? I could use some light."

"Sure." He grabbed the items. The match fizzed to life and he lit the wick, the warm light filled the uneasy entrance. Now when the boards were better lit, Maka could easily see the nails hammered in the sides. Two nails decorated the edges of each of the three boards covering the double doors. The nails were crooked and halfway hammered down, the one hammering them in had seemingly been satisfied with the half-done job and ended it.

"How does it look?" Soul asked.

"Good for us." Maka opened the blades of the wire cutter and tightened it around the nail's head. She huffed as she pulled at the nail, smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she slowly with every pull, it was freed from the plank.

"One down," Maka commented. She started to pull at the second nail. A few tugs later, it clattered on the floor. The third nail and then the fourth nail joined the others and the board fell on the ground. Soul held the candle beside her, watching her carefully work the nails out of the wood.

Time had become a fluid term, Maka couldn't estimate how long she stood in the dark, bathing in the light from the candle as she pulled the nails from the planks. When the last board clattered on the ground, joining the pile of nails and boards, she was sure at least an hour had to have gone by.

Maka and Soul pushed the double doors open and the cool breeze caressed her bare legs and the drops from the rain splattered against her shoes.

"We're finally out." Maka breathed a sigh of relief at the fantastic view of the forest surrounding them and the sound dirt road leading away from the horrible school.

"Yeah, let's get out of here before the chainsaw dude returns."

"Wait." Maka grabbed a hold of his sleeve, preventing him from stepping outside of the school. "Our friends are most likely in this school. They don't know about this exit. We should go and find them."

"Are you nuts? What if they aren't even _here_ and we run into the chainsaw dude again? This place clearly screams not safe. I'm sure if they were here, they would find their way here eventually."

"We can't just leave them behind and wait for them. If they're in there, we got to find them and lead them the exit." Maka let go of his sleeve. A breeze hit Soul's face, his bangs caressing his eyebrows as he blankly stared at her. One powerful wind blew out the candle in his hand and the smoke from the golden wick rose as it disappeared. "If you want, you can wait outside. I could go and search for th―"

"No, if you're going to search for them, I'm coming with you." He immediately said without a shred of hesitation, accidentally dropping the candle and it clattered on the ground. "Who knows what's inside of there. You could wander right into danger."

"I appreciate your help." Maka nodded back inside. "Come on, let's search upstairs. If the chainsaw man is still around the ground floor, we should probably avoid it for the moment."

"Right."

The two of them turned around, walking away from the exit of the school and back into the school.


	3. Ghost

Chapter 3

_Ghost_

Liz breathed heavily and quickly, nails digging into her hair, her scalp hurting from the hair threatening to leave her skull. Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor as black dots danced over her vison. Tsubaki soothingly rub Liz's back.

"Slow and easy," Tsubaki spoke in her ear smoothly and motherly.

Slow? How could she? Their friends were gone and the comfort of their classroom had been replaced by this sinister and perverted one. Their desks were replaced by the eerie small desks fit for young kids who just entering elementary school. The walls were cluttered with pictures drawn by the small children, but they weren't of cute animals and warm family pictures, but pictures of brutal murders. In one, a kid was chasing other children with a bloodied pair of scissors high over his head. In a different one, the child was repeatedly stabbing an adult in the stomach and crimson red covered the whole picture.

"You can relax," Tsubaki continued to speak calmly. "Nothing is going to happen."

How could she freak out like this? For a long time, she lived on the streets with her younger sister. There was no one she feared. She wasn't scared of anything. The darkness that constantly surrounded them had nothing on her. It was them who ran the streets. No one else.

Look at her now, Black*Star had played on her worst fears and separated her from her younger sister and set her in a deranged kids' classroom. This was too low of him, wanting to see her crumble like this. Once she saw him and Soul, she was going to kick their asses.

"You poor thing." Tsubaki's arm snaked around her shoulders and brought her into a half hug as she took a seat by her on the floor.

Liz leaned into Tsubaki's touch, burying her face into her neck. Look at her, she was pathetic. Her grip on her skirt tightened as she shut her eyes, blocking the horrifying classroom. One breath at a time, she would collect herself. She breathed deeply, Tsubaki patting her bicep, encouraging her. She held her breath before she shakily exhaled.

"There you go." Tsubaki's voice raised in her pitch.

She continued to breathe deeply, calming her nerves. Slowly her shaking hands came to a slight tremble. Carefully, she cracked her eyes open and to her dismay, the creepy classroom was still surrounding her.

"Are you feeling better?" Tsubaki asked.

Liz nodded eventually. "I think so."

"Good."

"We should probably leave this room. I don't feel like giving Black*Star and Soul more reasons to laugh at me." Liz heaved herself up on her quivering al dente legs. "No offense, but I don't know how you can handle him. I just want to wring his neck as soon as he opens his big mouth."

Tsubaki stayed silent. The comforting warm smile she wore completely gone and her lips were a tense line. "Do you think Black*Star did this?"

"Yeah. Who else would do this?" Liz questioned.

"I don't know," Tsubaki confessed. "It's just… he can barely plan a movie night. How on earth could he plan something as big as _this?_ Everything is down to the tiny details. Black*Star wouldn't be able to pull off something like this."

"That's why Soul is with him. He's the mastermind behind all of this. He's always so quiet and all. Who knows what goes on inside of his mind― oh wait, _this_ is what's going on in his head."

Tsubaki closed her mouth, processing her words. "Do you… do you really think Soul could've pulled all of this off?"

"Totally. It's always him who's behind all the pranks. Black*Star comes up with the plans, Soul prepares and executes them, it has always been that way."

"But… but _this?_ " Tsubaki gestured toward the room. "Don't you think this is a little bit too much even for him?"

"Do you have any other explanation?"

"Well… no, but shouldn't we at least find them and hear them out?" Tsubaki added.

Liz gulped, her manicured nails digging into the teacher's podium. It just _had_ to be them. If it wasn't them… who else could it even be? Before the… the earthquake, they were in their classroom about to head out. They were going to bid Tsubaki farewell, but instead they wound up here.

This just had to be one of Black*Star and Soul's pranks. There was no other explanation.

The calm and collected Tsubaki stood up, brushing the dust of her skirt. "How about we leave?"

Liz nodded. On her shaky over-boiled noodle legs, she and Tsubaki headed toward the door.

"Look at this." Tsubaki spoke, pointing toward a piece of paper attached on the wall by the exit of the classroom.

Liz came to a stop, cocking her eyebrow at the old yellow paper, edges ripped and the ink from the typewriter paling.

"What's this…?" Liz whispered as she read the first row.

_Welcome to Gallows Elementary School!_

_Respect your fellow students and faculty members, bullying is prohibited!_

_Clean after yourself, littering will result in detention._

_No running in the classrooms or corridors._

_Homework must be finished before the deadlines, if any obstacles occur, contact your teacher―_

The bottom half of the paper was ripped off.

"G-Gallows Elementary School..?" Liz stuttered. Knees quivered as she stared at the bold large letters on the paper of the school's name. "What kind of school is that?" Liz turned toward Tsubaki whom stared at the paper with wide eyes, red veins holding her eyes back as if they would pop out from the sockets at any given moment. Anxiously Liz fiddled with her skirt as she stared at Tsubaki's fearful face. Since they woke up in the classroom, she hadn't shown a shred of fear until now. Coldness slowly crawled up her spine, challenging her sanity.

"Isn't…" Tsubaki forced out, wetting her lips, she shook her head, covering up the blinding fear Liz had caught in her eyes with a tense smile. "Never mind." She waved whatever she had thought away.

"What is it?" Liz persisted.

Tsubaki brushed it away. "I-it's nothing. Just my imagination."

Liz gave her a quizzical look. If she didn't want to talk about it, she couldn't lurk it out of her. Maybe, she didn't even want to know. If the thought made her paralyzed with fear, she didn't even want to know what it was. It was probably best to let it go. There was no reason getting worked up without any real evidence. If it was important she would tell her.

"Let's just go," Tsubaki said, wearing a strained smile.

"Right." Even though, she couldn't help feeling distraught. Whatever was on Tsubaki's mind wasn't anything good.

The eerily quiet corridor made her skin crawl with uneasiness. The rain trickled down the seemingly magical window painted on the worn down walls of the corridor.

When Liz and Patty were younger and lived on the streets, her nerves were of steel. Wielding a loaded gun was nothing and she wasn't afraid of pointing it toward anyone as long as she could get some bills for food. The darkness of the graffiti-covered walls didn't scare her. Nothing scared her. She had her baby sister to take care of. There was no time to be scared. Often when they were short of money, they returned to an abandoned warehouse to hide away from the streets and bad weather and get a somewhat decent sleep.

She was well adjusted to old and worn buildings, but something about the eerie silence, the disturbing children pictures and the painted windows on the walls made her feel… scared. This wasn't just an abandoned elementary school. This was… she couldn't really put it into words. This was all crazy how one moment she was bidding Tsubaki farewell and then waking up five minutes later in a disturbing elementary school classroom. This experience was just downright scary!

Well played Soul.

Well played.

Once she found that punk she would kick his ass.

As they went down the corridor, Tsubaki was awfully quiet. Wrinkle between her eyebrows and her eyes casted to the floor, mouth strain as her mind was far off in her thoughts. Whatever was on her mind grabbed her full attention.

The soles of their shoes clicked against the floor, the wood creaking loudly from the slightest pressure, threatening to snap at any moment. Somehow, even though the boards bent under their shoes, it was still holding them up. Judging from the angle of the windows painted on the wall (if they even were reliable there was) they weren't on ground level. If the floor ended up breaking, they could seriously hurt themselves.

When they found Soul and Black*Star, the prank would be over and they could take them away from the terrible place. They had to know where the exit was, or they would be waiting for them to find the exit. Most likely they had put out scary attractions and traps around the corridors to scare the crap out of them. Oh man, if Black*Star was videoing it, she wouldn't just break the camera, but she would break every single bone in his body because this was _not okay_. This had to be illegal.

A bone-shaking cry broke the silence and echoed in the empty corridors. Liz yelped loudly and clutched onto Tsubaki, knees already quivering and threatening to give in. The scream never seemed to end. The female voice called out for help, screaming in horror until it turned into a painful cry. Suddenly the scream came to an abrupt end. "W-w-what was that?"

"I don't know." Tsubaki calmly whispered back. "Let's go and check it out."

"A-are you crazy?" Liz hissed. "That didn't exactly sound like a scream an actress would make."

"If so she deserves an Oscar." A soft comforting smile spread on her face. "This is just Black*Star and Soul's doing. They're just trying to scare us." There it was again. The unnerving tone in her voice. Tsubaki was keeping _something_ from her and it wasn't good.

"Tsubaki―"

"Let's follow the voice. Maybe Soul and Black*Star are waiting for us at the end of it."

Liz couldn't speak, rendered silent even. Not only was the place creepy beyond belief, but now there were crazy screams. She swallowed down her unspoken words, reminding herself this was only one of Soul and Black*Star's pranks. Everything was just a prank.

Liz stayed close to Tsubaki as they followed the direction of the girl's scream. Her nails dug into Tsubaki's forearm as Liz grinded her teeth. They tiptoed through the corridor as they came closer and closer to the sound.

"AAAAAUGH!" A new scream echoed in the corridor, much closer and agonising than the last one. Liz wanted to stop, this scream unnerved her to her core, but while her steps slowed, Tsubaki's only hurried as if the scream had fuelled her determination to find its source. Liz was dragged behind Tsubaki as she speeded forward, almost jogging through the corridor.

The scream reached a higher octave Liz didn't even think was possible. They rounded a corner and the last corner came into view. She knew, just around that corner, the source of the bone-shaking scream was located. Her stomach knotted at the thought.

Just as the corner was within their grasp, Liz quickly came to a halt. But Tsubaki didn't. Her instinct kicked in and Liz yanked Tsubaki backwards to prevent her from throwing herself into the bone-shaking situation. Tsubaki didn't even cast a glance at her instead she peeked around the corner and Liz soon followed.

Her hand slapped over her mouth to choke down the cry arising. Ten meters away from them, a girl was indeed present, but Soul and Black*Star were not. The unknown girl's nails scratched the floor as she tried to crawl away, it was as if an invisible string was tied around her waist, preventing her from moving a centimetre further. Liz's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at the view of the three _glowing_ kids. They… something was wrong. One of the three girls, she thought, one of them had their head severed just above their mouth, if it wasn't for her feminine school uniform, she wouldn't have known. The other girl had twin pigtails, reminding her of Maka's, her left eyes was a pitch black hole and what looked like minced meat had dried around the fatal wound. The long hair of the third young girl was stained with dark patches and her abdomen was ripped wide open, guts spilled out from the gross wound. Just the view of her severe wound made her stomach turn. It looked so _real_.

She had been to Kid's theatre where the makeup majors had jumped in and did the spooky gory. Just the one time when the makeup majors had turned Kid into a zombie for a zappy love story, he hadn't even tried to scare her, but his makeup had seemed so real. But this, it was beyond any makeup she had ever seen.

This… this couldn't be _real_.

The screaming poor girl was yanked toward the three blue glowing girls as if the pigtailed girl had tugged at the invisible rope. Her screams escalated and Liz was left paralyzed on the spot as she watched the girl frantically clawing the wooden floor, nails horribly snapping and blood pouring out from the broken nails. The girl with the long tangled hair reached out with her hand giggling madly. Liz gawked when suddenly, the scared girl was lifted _up in the air_ ― no strings or chair to support her, she was _floating_. Liz's spine froze when the frantic girl's frightened brown eyes locked with hers.

"HELP M―" before she could finish her sentence, she was flung up into the ceiling. Blood sprayed on the ceiling and blood dripped from her now flaccid arm. The unknown force keeping her up ceased to exist and the dead girl's body clattered on the ground. Blood poured out from her body and her school uniform quickly got drenched in her blood, her neck was crooked in a weird angle and conveniently her face was directed toward them.

This… this was sick! Disgusting! Insane and beyond belief! This— she couldn't quite believe it, but this couldn't be _fake_. She knew Soul could be smart, but even he couldn't find such a good actress and a way to safely split her skull open.

The girl was really _dead_.

The three girls giggled pleased and skipped happily, _enjoying_ the view of the girl's dead body. They were basically rejoicing in the girl's blood staining the boards and relishing in the sensation of killing an innocent girl.

This was really bad. The world she had explained it away as a prank set by Black*Star and Soul crumbled to the ground and the blue ghost girls floating in the air grew ten times more horrifying than before. These girls weren't holograms or imagination, they were _real ghosts!_ They were… they were stuck in an abandoned school with killing ghosts!

They had to get everyone from here!

Fast!

Liz grabbed a hold of Tsubaki's hand, carefully tugging her away from the corner and she allowed it. They tiptoed away as fast as they could from the corridor and dived into the first available classroom. As soon as the door clicked shut, Tsubaki exploded.

"I can't believe it! They _killed_ her!" Tsubaki hissed as she leaned against a wall and slid down it, covering her mouth with her hands.

"I hate to even think the thought, but those were _real ghosts_." It sounded even absurd when she said it out loud. Ghosts existed only in Maka's horror stories! They weren't supposed to be real.

"I can't believe this," Tsubaki whimpered, burying her face in her hands as she shook her head as if she could shake away the pure evil place they had wound up in. "I can't believe this. I can't believe this. I can't believe this."

Liz's legs gave in and she crashed down on the floor. Unwilling tears trickled down her cheeks and she shook worse than she had ever experienced. Not even the cold winter air on the streets had made her quiver as much. This was all _real_. This was a twisted reality she had found herself in. She was no longer the top dog, she was a prey at the hands of the ghost children.

And she couldn't escape.

No, they had to escape! This was beyond madness! They had to find a way out of this maddening place and get the hell away from this freakish school. If she stayed here any longer she was sure she would go insane. She had already seen perverted children's drawings and an innocent girl around their age get killed. It was disturbing how easily her hair colour just faded and there she could see herself lying dead on the ground with her skull bashed open.

She swallowed down her fear, rising on her trembling legs as she supported herself against the wall. "Tsubaki." She steadied her voice as well as she could. "We-we need to get away from here."

"H-how? The windows are bolted to the wall and there are killing ghosts just wanting to kill us." Tsubaki trembled as she let her hands slip from her face, now smeared with tears and snot. She had never before seen Tsubaki so unravelled and shaken up before. She didn't blame her. She was just as shaken up, but it was just so unusual seeing Tsubaki, the always calm and collected sweet girl so cool during all situations was genuinely torn up by all of this.

Now she had to be the strong one. She had to absorb her past thug self and pull herself through this living hell. She had seen awful things on the street, _been thought_ things no person should ever have to experience. It was her time to swallow her fear because this was real. Ghosts were no longer fiction and they were at the bottom of the food chain. It was either escape with their lives still intact or die at the hands of the evil children.

"Listen." Liz strolled over to Tsubaki and kneeled in front of her, collecting her hands in her own trembling ones. "I've no clue how we fucking got here or how ghosts exist, but we can't just sit here until they find us, we gotta get away from here before it's too late."

"You're right." Tsubaki swallowed heavily as she let Liz pull her up on her feet. "Listen, about earlier." Tsubaki pulled away from Liz and leaned against the wall.

Liz cocked her eyebrow questioningly. "Which event are you referring to?"

"The poster we found in the classroom." Tsubaki dragged her hands down her face. "Do you remember earlier today in the locker room when we were changing into our uniforms?"

It was a moment she hadn't really thought much about. They were changing into their Halloween costumed school uniforms. Since Halloween was approaching, the class thought it was only right to style the school's cafeteria into a graveyard and soak everybody's uniform's with fake blood and rip them a little bit. Liz hadn't stayed for too long since they ran out of fake blood and went to get some more since Maka were about to tell one of her many horror stories.

"What about it?" Liz questioned.

…

Maka helped Tsubaki stain her shirt with fake blood and the others cut their shirts and skirts a little to create an illusion they had been all in one terrible accident with fatal ending. It was then Maka had announced her inspiration behind the decoration in the school's cafeteria.

"I get a lot of inspiration from the paranormal researcher Tezca Tlipoca and I've found this new weird blog belonging to Lady Arachne Gorgon" Maka spoke as she splattered blood on Tsubaki's shirt with the help of a straw. "Her blog has existed since the beginning of internet! Her language is so aged and elegant, it's as if her story is from a different era."

"I see, is she one of those paranormal activity people?" Tsubaki had questioned.

Maka shook her head and her neat pigtails slapped her cleaned cheeks. The only one who wouldn't wear any fake blood or rippled clothes since she would be running around the entire school making sure everything was running smoothly for everybody in their grade. "Well, I don't honestly know. On her blog only exists two posts and in the comment section there are a lot of rumours and one of them is she's dead."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Maka―"

"Don't apologize, because here's the weird part, the rumours says she died over _a hundred_ _years ago_."

"Wow, really?"

"Really. I actually did some investigation for myself, and her full name is Arachne Gorgon. She did indeed exist over a hundred years ago, and she was an outstanding influential woman for her age, she owned a very successful bar and she was very popular among her suitors, but here's the interesting part." Maka grabbed a pair of scissors and carefully she started to tear at the collar of her uniform. "At the age of twenty-seven, she disappeared."

"She just disappeared?" Tsubaki yelped. Now this had taken the occult turn Maka so enjoyed.

"Disappeared into thin air. One day nobody could find her. Her colleagues couldn't find her, her family couldn't find her, she was never found. The rumours in the comment section for her posts are a lot, but the most interesting theory is her ghost is still alive and writing the posts about her experiences on the other side."

"No!" Liz exclaimed and the brush soaked with fake blood clattered to the ground. "Ugh, no ghost stories in the locker rooms, Maka." She was shivering on the spot in front of her younger sister laughing at her outburst.

"Sissy got scared!" she sang as she pointed her finger at her.

"… but it wasn't even a ghost story," Maka commented.

"Can't we just save the ghost stories for later? It's bad enough we're running a corpse party of a café and then staying behind for ghost stories."

Tsubaki felt bad for Liz. When the theme had been announced she had already been quivering in her seat and dreading for the festival to arrive. She had seen Liz slip on her lucky socks under her uniform knee high socks. It was really sweet of her to agree to stay behind for the ghost story session since it was her last chance at spending some time with her friends, and Maka's ghost stories were something special she didn't want to miss. She was really going to miss all of them and her ghost stories when she was gone…

"It's probably some teenager who thought it was a fun idea to take a random woman's identity and make a horror blog, but they didn't get far considering there are only two posts. It's more of a blog running on rumours and speculations. It's nothing to be afraid of." Maka lifted her empty mason jar of empty fake blood. "I'm out of blood. I got some more jars in my locker, could you fetch some more for me?"

Liz's mouth tensed but she slowly nodded. "Yeah." Maka pulled up her keys from her pocket and tossed it over to her, catching it perfectly. Liz exited the locker room.

"It's too bad Liz's so scared of horror stories," Maka spoke as she carefully started pulling at the threads to make the cut in her uniform messier. "She does have some interesting stories up her sleeves from her life on the streets."

"Sis is really cool and strong, but you know what they say," Patty spoke as she hung upside down from the bench. "What doesn't kill you fucks you up mentally."

An awkward silence had hung over them.

Tsubaki had always wondered about the story behind Liz's strong fear for ghosts was, and Maka thirsted even more for that story than hers.

"Gallows Elementary School." Maka broke the silence. "That's Lady Arachne's only story on her blog." A smile spread on her face. "I'll tell you more about it tonight."

…

Tsubaki gulped. She knew she had heard the certain elementary school before, but she just simply didn't want to acknowledge it. They were in a strange place and with it came acknowledging strange facts.

One, they were in a strange "abandoned" school.

Two, killing ghosts were stuck with them and they didn't hesitate to kill anyone.

Three, Gallows Elementary School was real.

The story Maka told before they… whatever happened before they woke up here, it was real. There still remained a horrifying school with ghost children trying to murder them. Maka hadn't said anything about three children going on murder sprees or Gallows Elementary School _still existing!_

"Tsubaki, what is it?" Liz spoke sternly, sensing her apprehensiveness.

So many questions appeared in her mind with no answers, explanations or solutions. There was just too little to go by and as much as she wanted to keep this terrifying conclusion to herself, she knew she had to reveal it to Liz; no matter how scary it was.

"The thing is… this is so crazy."

"Crazier than witnessing _three_ _ghost children murdering a girl in cold blood?_ " Liz emphasized.

"I get you point," Tsubaki sighed and shielded her face from Liz. "In the locker room, Maka mentioned an elementary school she would tell us after the festival."

"And what you're saying is… the school you're talking about… it was Gallows Elementary School?"

Tsubaki paused before she nodded stiffly. "I can't explain it, but we've seen _ghosts_ and we saw a homicide, so maybe we could've gotten here somehow."

"Oh fuck." Liz slid down the wall right beside her, gripping her hair tightly. "Oh fuck, fuck, fuck! W-we're _literally_ trapped in a horror story!"

Tsubaki wrapped her arms around Liz and pulled her close to her, cradling her in her arms and trying to sooth the panic she had inflicted upon her. "I know."

"I-I just want to wake up," Liz murmured as she buried her face in the crook of Tsubaki's neck.

"We'll figure something out. I promise we'll somehow escape this hell."

Hopefully she could keep it.


	4. Scattered

Chapter 4

_Scattered_

Black*Star didn't know what came first, the splitting headache or the unusual smell of earthy soil tickling his nostrils. He groaned loudly and rubbed his hurting skull, groaning when he pulled his hand back and his hand was stained with crimson red blood.

"Fuck," he cursed as he slowly heaved himself up into a sitting position.

This wasn't the classroom.

It was really… fucked up. The room was aged as if some sort of time machine had been invented and turned the clock forward with hundreds of years. Maybe thousands. Who the fuck knew. Okay, Maka would know how long the atoms would take to decay or whatever—but that wasn't the point!

The floor boards were brown and seemed to break at the slightest of pressure. The grey pain on the walls were flacking and― who the fuck had _blackboards_ in the classrooms?! Let alone weird "WeLcOmE tO hElL" written on the board―

Wait what?

Black*Star stormed across the room, the fallen over chairs and desks pushed toward the side. He slapped his hands against the board and stared at the sloppily written red words on the board, possibly written in blood.

This wasn't Soul's handwriting even though his looked more like mythical symbols than actually _English_. And he who had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, you suppose a dude like that would be more like Kid than… him.

The handwriting was far from Maka's handwriting. The H was completely different and stiffer than Maka's soft handwriting.

Where the fuck was he?

He remembered being in the classroom with his friends, they told ghost stories and Maka had managed to throw him off his cool with her stunt! Then they did one of Maka's weird occult rituals before an earthquake hit them, and he woke up here.

Wait a minute!

"You fucking bastards come out from wherever you are!" he hollered and his voice echoed out of the classroom and out in the corridor. No response.

Those motherfuckers. His homie had totally teamed up with his geek and they were totally trying to scare him! Those backstabbing bitches thought they could scare him and get back for all his pranks he had pulled on them. Huh? He was going to show them there was no way they could get Black*Star screaming in fright. He was a _GOD!_

"You're not scaring me! You're all the ones who'll be laughing when you see your GOD going through this without even FLINCHING!"

When he found those fucktards he was going to beat his minion for betraying his God and stop buying books for Maka for teaming up with his _best friend_ to get her revenge on him! That was disgusting!

"I'll show all of you who you're messing with!" he furiously yelled and he received no response again. Black*Star puffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

Fine! Whatever! He'll just have to find the others!

He was an assassin and he could track down whoever whenever. Of course only if he was paid. But he guessed he would make an exception for this time.

He pulled up his right pant leg and untied his LARPing headband from around his ankle, tying it around his head to hopefully stop the bleeding. And looking cooler than the Cool Boy and hopefully hurting his feelings because everybody knows the almighty BLACK*STAR's hair is cooler than Soul's!

"Fuck you allllllllll!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, running down the corridor. He rounded a corner, expecting _something_ to happen. Bats from strings or buckets filled with goo hanging from the ceiling because Maka was lame like that, but _nothing_. G. Nada. Nein. Ja nai.

If they tried to screw with him they weren't doing a good job. When he found them, he would show them how a _real_ master of prankery pulled off amazing pranks! They were in an _abandoned building_ and they hadn't even used all the amazing opportunities at pranking him. There were floorboards scattered so he could use them to cover up the holes and then when someone stepped on them, they would be in for a surprise. Or use some of that chalk dust to make handprints on the windows! The opportunities were endless and they didn't do anything.

Well he was going to give them a lesson in how to prank people for real!

A light flashed in the corner of his eyes and he quickly skidded to a stop. He stormed back to the light in the window and he kicked the door open. He cocked his eyebrow at the familiar candle lighting up the chaotic room.

It was Maka's candle.

He went up to it and stearin had already dripped to the floor as if it had burned for over an hour. How the fuck long had they even drugged him?

There was a note and pen beside it. He picked it up and noticed both Maka's hand writing and Tsubaki's were scribbled on the paper.

_Soul and I are together. We're both fine. We saw a guy with a chainsaw lurking around the corridor. Make sure to stay away from him. He's bad news._

Maka had written on the paper. Black*Star could only laugh loudly, slamming his hand on the floor. A _chainsaw dude?!_ _That_ was their big act to scare him?! That's fucking ridiculous! Like a note and some dude with a chainsaw could scare him! Come on give him a break! He wasn't some sissy like Liz!

A row under Maka's paragraph appeared Tsubaki's usually net handwriting, which was shakier than usual.

_Don't go outside! There are mines buried in the ground! Be on the lookout for three female ghost children. Me and Liz saw them kill an innocent girl without any hesitation. Be on your guard! This classroom isn't safe, go upstairs to classroom 2-6 and we'll try to meet up there._

Now what the fuck is this twisted ass thing. Since when did Tsu start pulling this crap? No, not his Goddess wouldn't start pulling this shit and teaming up with Maka _and_ Soul! They were all freaking trying to overthrow their God by pulling a bigger and better prank on him, huh?! How could sweet and unbiased _Tsubaki_ be on _their_ side! Once he found Soul he was going to kick his ass for trying to overthrow his God!

And he knew just where to go! Of course they would be hiding in the place they _didn't_ want him to go to.

Outside.

He bet they had some sort of big prank for him outside of the abandoned building. But guess what? He was going to surprise _them_ before they even realized it!

"Just you watch, you dirty dirty backstabbers," he muttered as he crumbled the note in his hand, letting it roll out of his palm and onto the floor. He grabbed the familiar candle Maka always used for their ghost stories sessions and moved out of the classroom.

His steps resonated within the corridor as he headed it down, trying to find any signs of Maka and Soul's tracks, but the corridor was chaotic. Wood from the level up was hanging loosely and the mysterious windows flat on the wall like paintings. The absolute silence was… unnerving his Godly nerves. It had been a really long time ago he experienced a silence like this, but there was something very different about this silence.

When he was just a kid, he was left all alone in his home when his biological father was… wherever he was. The silence had unnerved him and stressed him out, so he had filled the silence with his own voice; screaming and hollering so he wouldn't have to experience the sound of loneliness. Man, it had been such a long time ago. He had almost forgotten how the silence felt after years and years of living with his adoptive parents.

Until now.

But there was something very different about this silence. At his old home he had felt a need to destroy the silence. Whatever it took if it meant shouting at the top of his lungs till his voice gave out or slam with pots, he did it. Here, wherever 'here' even was, he was unnerved. There was something in the air, something about the load in the air that silenced him. A whispering in the air that warned him, almost pleaded with him, to stay quiet.

He didn't know what it was, but for once, he shut up. They were good. He had never been this unnerved in his entire life, but he battled on. Only his footsteps resonated in the corridor as he headed down it, the candle lighting the poorly lit hallway.

Black*Star cocked his eyebrow when something red in the distance caught his attention. He speeded up to the item and kneeled in front of it.

It was a red shoe.

He picked it up and it was small enough to fit in his hand without any trouble. Small enough to fit a little girl's foot. It almost reminded him of Maka's baby shoes Spirit kept on his embarrassing alter of his fatherly love toward Maka among with her other accomplishments and baby stuff. Creepy as fuck, but hey, there was a lot to be proud of.

Back on the subject, why would a random toddler's shoe be in a place like this? Judging from the outside, it was in the middle of a forest and he doubted a parent would allow a child wandering around it alone, let alone allowing them to walk inside of a creepy building like this one.

He placed the shoe back on the ground and kept going. More toddler shoes in different colours and shapes just kept on appearing until he found himself at some sort of entrance. Boards and nails were discarded on the floor in front of the entrance. Black*Star quickly hurried himself over to the pile of boards and nails and picked up the familiar put out candle on the ground.

It was Maka's.

His eyes slowly lifted to the outside where meats and blood were mixed with ground and sand at the crater as if an explosion had taken place.

As if someone had stepped on a mine.

The candle stick fell from his hands and all energy was sucked from his body at the sight.

No.

No!

_No!_

This couldn't be happening! It couldn't be Maka!

Tears streamed down his cheeks and his knees gave in. He crashed to the ground and he couldn't help but to stare at the unsettling realistic pile of human meat only meters away from him.

It couldn't be… it couldn't be Maka. This couldn't be real! This had to be a prank? Right? This had to be their masterpiece, right? Pulling the ultimate prank in pretending the closest person he had to a sibling had died in a freakishly weird place?

He shot up on his feet and balled his fists angrily. "Is this what you wanted?!" he screamed at the top of his lungs and his voice echoed in the corridors and through the forest, only the sound of rain splattering on the ground answered him. "You wanted to see me unravel, huh?!" Silence. His friends didn't jump from around a corner with a camera at hand, laughing at him silly for breaking down the way he did, and his heart fell surprisingly with disappointment. He would've rather welcomed the humiliating scene than being left alone with the unsettling _real_ mash of meat and then leave with Maka and all of his friends. This… this was really starting to creep him out.

His hand tightened on the candlestick on the ground and it cracked in two pieces. This was just a prank, right? Even though they didn't come out now, didn't mean this was all real. They just wanted to rejoice in his miserable situation. He could just leave this creepy building and find his way home.

He pulled up his phone from his pocket and he rolled his eyes with annoyance. No reception. Of course. They managed to find a good place where they had managed to strip him off his phone's capabilities. No worries. He could still find his way through the woods. He was a star after all! A big star like him always found his way home!

He wiped away his tears and pocketed his phone. All he needed to do was walk around the pile of meat and enter the forest. Surely there had to be a path to a road and then maybe find his friends or a bus stop or in the wort case scenario, he could walk his way back home.

His steps resonated as he exited on the podium just outside of the entrance. The rain dropped in puddles and the dead bushes along the wall of the school's building. The roof above him mercifully covered him as he stood at the edge of the short stairs down to the, surprisingly pale and dry grass. He wasn't an expert in agriculture, but he was pretty sure if it rained, grass and bushes weren't supposed to be dead. He knew Nevada was a dry place, but the amount of rain in this place just had to awaken the bushes and the grass.

There was something about the situation that creeped him the fuck out. The meaty mess in front of him as if Maka had unexpectedly walked on a mine and turned into minced meat terrified him the fuck out. This fucking _building_ terrified him the fuck out. This was all just one big fat prank, right? He could just walk around the fake meat and get the fuck out of here.

So why did his legs refuse to leave the safety of the podium and enter the rain?

His knees trembled and Tsubaki's warning rang through his head, her plea to seek shelter in the classroom seemed more appealing than… the unsettling unexpected ground that could possibly contain _mines_ of all things. At this point, he would rather fall into their trap than… the outside just creeped him the fuck out! Okay! He knew better than going against _Tsubaki's_ wishes when she was as shaken up as she was when she wrote the note.

He backpedalled back into the building and although a new relief of being gone from the disgusting scene in front of him, he was once again back to square one, stuck inside of the seemingly abandoned building.

…

The clock wasn't moving. The large clock covering the wall was familiar, but at the same time very different. Kid knew the clock only from afar in the school yard, but even from a distance he was sure it wouldn't look so… aged. The striking steel he had always admired of the clock was now a rusty copper and it stained the usually white polished surface of the clock.

Kid's fingers dug into his pants as he stared out of the clock window and out on the… very unusual schoolyard at display. The roof was completely different and older and the paint on the walls was bleached by the sun and started flaking a long time ago. He didn't even remember the schoolyard had a shed and since when had the pool turned into a pond?

He had no longer a clue if this mysterious building he found himself in was his school or if he had magically time-travelled to some different time where his school was just… different.

Kid pulled his legs up to his chest, hugging them as he tried to gain control over his shakes. The whole building… it was so dirty and messy. He knew his sense of "clean" was of a higher quality than his peers, but this was ridiculous. The water in the pond was murk and leaves and branches floated on top of it, the dried pall grass wasn't properly taken care of. No cut or water in _weeks_ , but the rain should take care of the watering problem with the buckets of buckets of water pouring down from the sky, but the grass and bushes were seemingly in a permanent state of death.

He bit his lower lip as he buried his head in his legs, trying to ignore the disturbing body hanging from the bell in the tower.

He didn't know where he was. All he knew is he had never been here before, and the male student hanging from the bell was _real_. As in it wasn't a prop, but a real _human_ who had once been walking and talking. And he was stuck inside of the attic in the bellower with it. As much as he stomped on the hatchet and threw boxes at it, it didn't even scratch.

The rope around the corpse's neck creaked disturbingly and Kid covered his ears, trying to block out and forget about the dead man and the mess he found himself in. Just wishing someone would come and save him.

His hand dug in his pocket, searching desperately for the piece of paper from the doll ceremony. It was supposed to bring him together with his friends, and he was desperately in need of his friends. If he stayed in this room any longer he was sure he would drive himself insane!

He pulled his ID from his pocket and found the piece of the doll he had ripped during the doll charm. His thumb ran over the piece of the paper, simply looking at the ripped paper made him think of his friends. Maka's determination to learn _everything_ when they studied together in the library, Patty's laughter and chaotic scribbles when she drew giraffes, Liz as she rather worked on her nails than study, Soul and Black*Star with their useless pranks. He still hadn't forgotten the time during a sleepover and they thought it would be fun to draw three white strips in his hair and watch his OCD kick in. At those times, he was grateful to Liz for "lecturing" them about his OCD and never did they pull a prank of that nature on him again.

The paper brought him some comfort, but he wished his friends were here.

He swallowed heavily and returned to hugging his legs, closing his eyes and occupying his mind with his friends. He was sure they would find him if they were in this creepy place too.

He put his faith into his friends.

They would surely find him.

…

Oh dear. This was certainly different from the usual. Miss Marie looked around the corridor and when she went to grab the students from the homeroom, she was sure they had cleaned away all the Halloween decorations. Even if they didn't get rid of the Halloween decorations, she didn't recall the decorations had been as scary as _this_.

The corridor was absolutely dusty. As if the cleaners hadn't cleaned the school in _months_ , not to forget the broken floor boards in the hallway and the massive drop. The windows into the classrooms were dirty with small palm prints of children's hands, perhaps elementary students? Through the thin torn curtains covering the window, she could spot desks and chairs tumbled over as if one particular difficult student had gone berserk in the classroom.

What was this place?

All she could recall she had helped Maka pull off a prank on the other students, they had gathered around to perform a ceremony. After they had taken all of their stuff, they were going to go outside of the school to properly bid farewell to Tsubaki, but an earthquake had hit them.

Wait.

An earthquake had hit them. And it was a big one. None of the earthquake alerts had warned them of the incoming earthquake. The floor had been broken as if it was a toothpick and she witnessed as Soul and Maka fell through the floor before they all joined them.

The kids! Where were they?! She had fallen right through the floor along with her students; they also had to be in these odd ruins but still very intact school. They had to be here too!

"Maka! Black*Star! Patty!" Marie started calling out for her students, running down the corridor, just hoping she would find her students unharmed. Floorboards were broken and cut off other corridors, this was a dangerous place to be trapped in. She just hoped the kids were okay!

"Kid! Liz! Tsubaki! Soul!" she kept on yelling for the children, but she received no answer. She rounded a corner and found the floor diving and disappearing. Another dead end.

"Miss Marie?"

She wiped around toward the other corridor in the crossroad. It was Patty sobbing and calling out for her. "Patty!" Miss Marie quickly hurried down the corridor, following Patty's voice screaming her name. She halted in front of a door and tackled it open.

"Miss Marie." Patty sobbed loudly as she clutched her leg, which was twisted in a direction it really _shouldn't_.

"Oh no." She dived toward her side, hands hovering over her obviously broken leg "What happened to you?"

"I don't know." Patty sobbed, her hair stuck to her tear-stained cheeks and snot ran from her nose. "I woke up here and my leg was broken."

Marie lifted her gaze and found the ceiling had caved in and a broken floor board was dangling as if it would break and fall any second. She had to have fallen from the ceiling down here.

Judging from the small room only fitting for the desk, two chairs and a book shelf, this had to be some sort of office. The dusty geography books on the shelves and the stack of papers indicated this had to be a teacher's office. She knew how to recognize a fellow teacher's office.

"I've to examine your leg. This might hurt a little." Her fingertips barely touched the irritated red swollen skin on her leg and she cried out in pain.

"Ouch! It hurts!" Patty flinched and new tears streamed down her face.

Miss Marie's heart hurt simply watching Patty twist and moan in pain. Patty had always been happy and spread much needed joy, it pained her seeing her drowning in agony in this mysterious… where they now were she had no clue.

"Stay calm. I'll have to splint your leg."

"W-what?" Patty gasped.

Miss Marie grabbed a wooden chair probably meant for students visiting and smashed it to the ground. The wood cracked, but didn't break. She slammed it on the ground again and it broke into pieces.

"I'm really sorry, but this will hurt a lot," Miss Marie said as she grabbed two pieces of the chair's legs then taking a seat beside Patty. "On three." She received a nod as Marie placed the two pieces of wood on either side of her broken leg.

"One…" Patty panted.

"Two…" Marie said, hands hovering over her crooked leg. "Three," Patty shrieked in pain as Miss Marie quickly twisted the leg. "Sorry! Sorry!" Miss Marie apologized and she ripped at her long black skirt. She tied the cloth pieces around the wood pieces hugging her broken leg. Tears trickled Patty's cheeks as she cursed colourfully from the pain.

"Done." Miss Marie finally breathed. It was finally over. Now she didn't have to hurt her any further.

"Thank goodness," Patty whimpered as she threw her head backward while clenching her shirt in her hands.

There was no way Patty could walk even though she successfully splinted her leg. The pain she was in was far too great to handle walking around in search for an exit and the other students.

"Have you tried contacting your sister?" Miss Marie asked as she pulled up her phone.

"I can't. There's no service."

Miss Marie's eyes were left bulging out of their sockets. Indeed. There was no service. Had the earthquake been so severe it took out the phone network? The school had come crumbling down, but something wasn't right…

The school… it didn't _look_ like it had been damaged from an earthquake. There were too much dust and old wood, it was more like it to be aged than earthquake-damaged. The teacher's wing wasn't even supposed to be in this part of the house, this wing used to be group rooms for the students to rent since it was close to the library.

The last thing she remembered before she woke up in this mysterious place was the earthquake and the floor caving in. She alongside her students had fallen. The only logical conclusion was for them all to awake on the lower level _together_. Patty had been two corridors away from her. Just falling down a level couldn't possibly send them in two different directions like that.

Something wasn't right about this place. This place reminded her of Shibusen High, but it wasn't. This wasn't Shibusen High. They were no longer in Shibusen High and she had no clue where they were anymore. This place… was certainly ominous and without a doubt dangerous. A place aged like this had to contain mould in the wood and it could break from stepping in the wrong spot.

She had to find the other students quickly and an exit to get all of them out of here.

Miss Marie gulped. "I need you to wait here. I'm going to go and look for the others. If you hear any of your friends, tell them to wait here with you until I return."

Patty nodded reluctantly. "O-okay."

"I'll come and check on you in half an hour." Miss Marie's fingers tapped on her screen and showed the screen to Patty. She pressed start and the timer started counting down. "See? Now I won't forget it."

"B-be careful."

"I'll be." Miss Marie flashed a reassuring smile before she patted her head. She turned on her heel and exited the room.

The other students obviously weren't nearby otherwise they would've heard her when she called for them. They had to be on a different floor or maybe they had already found their way out. Or they could be wounded like Patty.

Miss Marie rounded the corner and exited the teacher's wing.

She had to hurry up finding them or else something terrible could happen to them―

She yelped loudly when the ground suddenly started to shake. She fell flat on her face as the ground shook just as violently as it had in the classroom. Wood creaked loudly as light bulbs in the ceiling broke, raining glass shards over her.

"Get under the desk, Patty!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping Patty would hear her.

Wood clattered on the ground and before she knew it, the earthquake stopped. She had almost expected the floor under her to break again.

She cracked her eyes open and she gasped loudly. She flew up from the floor.

The floor… the floor to the teacher's wing had collapsed and a four meter gap yawned at her. There was no way she could get back to Patty!

"Patty! Are you okay?" she yelled, her voice echoing in the corridor, waiting for a reply she didn't receive. "Patty!" she screamed, fear rooting in her belly. There was no way… she couldn't be dead! There was no way for her to get to her now when the floor was gone.

Her knees gave in and tears welled up, blurring her vision before droplets fell on the wooden floor.

She felt powerless. She was the teacher. She was the grownup. She was supposed to keep them all safe, and now, she had no clue if Patty had been crushed from the earthquake or if she even was alive. She had failed her…

She wiped away her tears and slammed her fist on the ground.

No. She couldn't sit here and feel sorry for herself. The earthquake had once again hit them. There was no time to waste. She had to find all of her students and see if Patty was okay. There had to be another way to Patty…

The ceiling! There was a hole and Patty had most likely fallen into the office through the ceiling! If she couldn't get to her through the hallway, she had to find the hole and climb down it.

Marie rose on her feet and wiped the snot from her nose on her sleeve. Her eyebrow raised when the corridor to her right was… _not_ broken. She could've sworn the floor was… never mind. It had to be her imagination. It just had to be a different corridor which floor was gone. There was no way a corridor could _heal_ or magically rebuild itself. It had to be her bad sense of directions that was playing tricks on her.

She headed in the new direction in search for a way to get to Patty.


	5. Blue Soul

Chapter 5

_Blue Soul_

Where were they? They should've found them by now if they were inside of the building. They had walked and walked and searched for their friends, but there was no trace of any of them. They had gone and gone, choosing their route around the school with care so they wouldn't run into the chainsaw man, but not a single clue of their friends' whereabouts could be was found. From time to time, they had come to a stop to light a candle, leaving a sign for their friends to find that they were there and searching for them.

Maka sighed and came to a halt in the middle of the corridor. Soul noticed and stopped a couple of steps in front of her. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Maka shook her head and she slid down the wall. "It's nothing."

Soul silently stared at her, knowing all too well he was analysing her and seeing right through her lie. "You know, if something's wrong, you can tell me." he said eventually.

"I know."

It might be silly. Especially now when they were in this very strange position, she knew an open communication between them was essential to find their friends and get the hell away from this creepy place. She didn't want to spend another second unnecessarily in this god damned elementary school.

It was vital she pushed her feelings aside and opened up. They were partners in crime in this messed up place. Kind of like lab partners dissecting frogs. For them to succeed in the experiment, they needed an open communication.

This situation was incredible… strange. The fact they did the ritual right before the mysterious severe earthquake that opened up the floor beneath them and swallowed them whole. The thought had appeared on her mind and… she couldn't stop thinking about it.

She had given them all very explicit and thorough information for the ritual to succeed. She had strictly told them no dicking around with it. They were in this fucked up place among dead people without any clue of how they got there in a realistic way, the only logical conclusion was… someone had fooled around and not taken the ritual seriously, leading to its failure. They had been playing around with the occult, and it was only logical for a backfired ritual to send them into a nightmarish place like this.

Tears burned her eyes, but she held them in. She refused to cry. It wasn't one-hundred percent sure they were here because of the failed ritual. There were still so many options left. Like… Maybe it could've been a… a worm hole taking them to a completely different space? Maybe a black hole hit them and instead of turning the earth to dust, it could've been a gateway to a new galaxy like in one of those children's movies. There was no use in crying when it wasn't because of the ritual.

"I guess we could take a break." Soul went over to her and sunk beside her in the corridor. "My feet are killing me from all the walking around."

No kidding. Her feet were aching from running around during the festival and now in this weird elementary school for their friends, all she wanted was a nice and warm bath. When she got home, she was for sure going to use her special cherry blossom bath bomb she'd been saving for a special occasion. Certainly running from corpses and a chainsaw-wielding man weren't special enough, she would never use that bath bomb.

What time was it even? The phones didn't work at all, not even the clock. It had to be past dinner time by a long shot. Her father had to run down the streets of Death City by now in search for her. So embarrassing. She wouldn't be surprised if he'd called all different kind of organization to search for her. Her picture was most likely splattered across the streets' walls and on the web. It would be painfully embarrassing to go to school after the weekend and explain to everybody, yes, her father was crazy during work hours, and yes, he was an even bigger knucklehead off work.

"Do you think the others are looking for us?" Maka asked, turning toward her classmate.

"Totally. Black*Star's probably punching down walls in search for you."

Maka shook her head. "No, my father and your brother. Do you think they're looking for us?"

"Definitely. Your father would call the cops if you were five minutes late. I bet he's a sore throat from all the yelling."

He was an asshole. A playing flirtatious father who chased anyone with a short skirt. But he had his moments when he was a good dad. Unlike her mother, he was still _there_ even though he could've been the one who abandoned her for other women.

"We've nothing to worry about. We've found the exit and who knows, maybe the others are waiting for us outside. Or we could just leave until we've reception and see if we can contact them."

"But what if they are inside of here with that chainsaw guy?"

"If they were here then we should've found them, right?"

He had a point. Black*Star wouldn't be hard to find. He was always too loud and dramatic. Every time she had been studying in the library and the few times Black*Star had entered, the librarians always had to hush him. It was hard _not_ to hear him.

They had been looking for the others for so long, and this wasn't working. Obviously. They had to change up their plans.

"So… we should go and check the entrance out again?"

Soul shrugged his shoulders. "We're treading water right now. Might as well change things up."

Maka stood up, straightening out her skirt. "Let's return to the exit."

"Right." He got up on his feet. "So to get to the exit we should―"

Maka yelped loudly and latched onto Soul as the ground started to shake violently. "Another earthquake?!" Maka yelled but her voice was drowned out. They clung onto each other not to lose balance from the floor boards shaking and trembling. Her eyes rapidly searched the corridor for a door to stand under, they locked on the first available door just a few steps away. She and Soul stumbled toward the door to the sound of wood cracking. Maka swung the door open and clang onto the wooden frame.

"Hang on tight!" She could barely hear it, if it weren't for his lips moving, she wouldn't have caught what he said. Her nail dug into his leather jacket as she held onto him and the frame.

Just as suddenly as it had come, the earthquake stopped and a deafening silence only a tragedy could make was left. Soul's heavy breathing was all there was and a pregnant pause for something more.

"Do you think it's over?" Soul broke the silence with his whisper.

"For now, it might be."

Soul released a breath of relief and pushed away from the door frame, entering the room. "What the fuck is up with this place?" He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Earthquakes, a fucked up abandoned elementary school with dead people and a chainsaw dude patrolling the place, what's next?"

She could only watch him pace back and forth inside of the small storage room where textbooks filled the shelves and paper scattered on the floor from the earthquake. She couldn't offer him any explanation. The situation they found themselves in was… the most unbelievable and unreasonable situation she was sure she would ever find herself in. There was absolutely no explanation to their whereabouts or how they got there to begin with.

Time certainly was… odd in this place. With their cell phones not working properly and no reception, there was no way telling what time it was or how long they had been there. This place was messing with their heads. Soul's more than hers. And she couldn't offer him any explanation to sooth his anxious brain.

"Let's just focus on getting out of here. Our friends are probably waiting outside for us―"

"What if they aren't even _here?_ We've searched high and low and if they were here we would've already found them." Soul snapped back, frustratingly running his hand through his hair as he spun on his feet. "Sorry. I didn't mean it."

"It's okay." Maka went up to him and slowly the door closed behind them to the small storage room. "I know this whole situation is frustrating and doesn't make any sense, but they have to be here too. They probably saw the chainsaw man and hid somewhere in the school. We've to just find them wherever they might be," Maka explained calmly.

"You know as well as I do Black*Star wouldn't quietly sit back and hid. We should've at least found him by now or at least a trace of him."

He had a point. She'd known Black*Star since they wore diapers and never had Black*Star been good at hide and seek since he would always reveal himself by snickering too loudly or just plainly hiding poorly. He didn't possess the attention span or the patience to hide in one place. Besides, he wouldn't kick back and let someone chase him, he was always doing the chasing.

"Wherever he is, we will find him." It was all she could say. She knew how much Soul meant to Black*Star. Black*Star… he was certainly a handful. His hyper-activeness, impatience, loud uncensored mouth and his troublemaking ways had made it difficult for him to make any friends. So when Soul came along and they clicked, she knew they were bros to the grave. She knew the feeling was mutual on Soul's end as well.

"But what if we don't? He might as well be dead with the rest of them."

"Soul!"

He flinched at her loud voice and shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"They aren't dead. Black*Star trains martial arts and you know about Patty and Liz's past. They can take care of themselves and I'm sure Tsubaki and Kid are with them somewhere."

"You're right. They wouldn't go down so easily."

"Let's just go back to the entrance and see if they are there." Maka turned on her heel and grasped the worn door handle, but it would not open. It clicked as she held it with both of her hands and tried to wrestle it open. How hard she pushed at the door as she pushed down the handle, it refused to budge.

"Come on Pigtails, stop fooling around and open the door," Soul said frustratingly.

"I would if I _can_." Maka punctuated as she tackled her shoulder into the door, but quickly regretting it when her already bruised left shoulder ached in pain.

"Give me a shot," he asked and Maka complied. He gave the door a try, cursing when his shoulder collided with the wooden door. "Fuck. You weren't kidding."

"No shit." Maka leaned against the wall beside the door dejectedly as Soul kept on trying to open the door. "So now what will we do?"

"Bust this door down," Soul said through gritted teeth as he backed up a few steps and tackled into the door, not even budging the slightest. It acted almost like the seemingly painted on windows on the walls. There was no way the door would open from brute force alone.

"That's not going to open."

"Do you have another plan then?"

"… no. But that door won't open. Just like the windows. It's just not going to open."

"What plan do you prefer then?" Soul swirled around. "Actually trying to bust this door down or just sit on our asses and wait till we starve to death? Take your pick." Soul stated as he turned back to try to break the door down, a mission Maka knew wasn't possible.

Something about this place was just… off. The windows, the unbelievable real corpses, the hammered entrance and the man wielding a chainsaw, this wasn't natural, or possible. There was something… special. Something they had to find out. If Soul wanted to waste his time and energy on the stupid door, he could do that.

Maka faced away from him as he kept on kicking and charging at the door. The room was quite small. Bookshelves full of dusty books and board games were discarded on the shelves and aged papers were hanging on the edge of the shelf in her eye level and scattered on the floors. It had to be some sort of storage room for teacher's educational tools.

Her neck began to prickle with uneasiness and her throat ran dry. A drape of chill was casted on her and she crossed her arms over her chest in discomfort. Two dots burned at the back of her neck as if… as if someone was watching her.

With a deep breath, she spun around on her feet and found Soul still trying to break down the door, this time by elbowing the door handle. Nothing beside him. No glowing eyes in the darkness or a figure moving in the darkness.

She bit her lower lip as she gazed at the bookshelf behind Soul, almost consumed by the dark. Just to the left of it was darkness and the small light seeping through the glass window from the door didn't shed light of what hid in the darkness.

As much as the feeling made her more aware… it didn't feel threatening. It didn't make her quiver to the bone or biting her nails in fear of whatever in the room would jump forward and kill her. It gave her the goose bumps and a promise of company, maybe not necessary bad one? It just… creeped her out. Reminded her of the time she had come out of the shower and was just about to get clothed when she felt someone staring at her in her wardrobe, only to find Black*Star hiding in her room away from his parents to evade the consequences of Nygus's wrath of his bad grades.

After pulling up her phone from her skirt pocket and unlocked her screen, the darkness around the bookshelf vanished and exposed the wall right beside it. The bookshelf casted a shadow against the aged white paint on the wall. Slowly Maka neared the bookshelf and just what she suspected, there was a small pocket of space behind the bookshelf.

Her thumb quickly tapped on her phone and the flashlight function on her phone lit up. She rounded the corner and the light exposed a corpse.

A loud shriek of shock escaped her lips and she backpedalled into the wall, her phone slipped from her hand and clattered on the floor, hiding the body in the dark.

"Maka!" Soul quickly hurried to her side and eyes darted, searching for what terrified her so. "What is it?"

"A-another dead body." She pointed toward the darkness where she knew where the body hid.

Soul cautiously kneeled toward the ground and picked up her phone where the flashlight had faced the floor. The corpse was once again exposed in the trembling light.

It was a boy. A very young boy. Maybe around ten years old. His skin was a grey hue with dark vein prints on his exposed skin and his eyes were sunk in with maggots crawling out of his eyes. His body hung from the noose around his neck and the chair lay on the ground underneath him.

"Oh fuck…" Soul cursed as he leaned against the wall.

"This place keeps on getting scarier and scarier."

A boy as young as him… he shouldn't even be able to know how to _kill himself_. And yet, there he was barely four feet in front of her, dangling from the ceiling with his neck broken. This was completely and utterly horrifying! What had happened here?

"Let's… Let's just get him down from there." She swung forward her messenger bag and opened the lid. "The wire cutters should be able to get him down eventually."

"Don't waste your time." Soul pulled up a red pocket knife.

"Why do you have a _knife_ on you?" Maka sneered. "You could get suspended for _months_ if you were caught with it!"

Soul blew a raspberry and unfolded the blade. "Relax. Cool dudes like me are never caught."

"You and Black*Star are _always_ caught when you try to cheat during tests!"

"That's just what we _want_ the teachers to think. We truly cheat during the exams. The tests are just to rock them in an illusion they can catch us." Soul grinned wide, exposing his sharp teeth as he raised the chair on its legs. "Do you want to do the cutting or the catching?"

"Just get him down."

"Catching it is," he murmured as he got up on the chair. She neared the boy and held onto his legs. Soul made quick work with his knife, much sharper than she had originally thought since his knife didn't have to saw through the rope many strokes before the boy's full weight was in her arms. Carefully Soul held onto the boy's torso and they laid him down on the ground beside the chair. As if not to harm the boy any more, Soul cautiously sliced the knot of the noose and pulled it off his head.

Poor boy… he shouldn't have died like this. He wasn't supposed to be dead. He was supposed to plan for all the fun things he and his friends would do during the autumn break and forget everything about homework. His life… he was backed into a corner and decided… this was it.

"Man…" Soul whispered. "This is a crazy place."

"No kidding." She gazed away from the boy, unable to look at the boy anymore. "We should get away from here and call the police. They need to know about him and his parents must be worried sick about him."

Soul nodded. "Let's just get the fuck away from h—"

Maka let out a loud scream and tumbled backwards, stumbling on her feet and fell down on the floor. Soul yelped and backed into the back of the bookshelf.

It was a blue orb. It had just exited the boy's body and floated right _in the air_. It was right there! _In the air!_

"What the fuck is that!?" Soul exclaimed as he pressed up against the bookshelf.

"So you did the ritual too." A young boy's voice echoed in the room. The sound bounced around the room, but she was sure it had to come from the blue light in front of her.

The blue orb couldn't just float but it talked as well? It couldn't be… She had read about souls on Tezca Tlipoca's blog and he had described them as glowing orbs flickering in the air. The core and mind of a person dwelling in the chest. It… she couldn't believe it she stood face to face with a true soul.

"You're…" her voice cracked. "… you're that boy's soul, aren't you?"

Soul snapped his head toward Maka in confusion.

"Yes. My name is Keith. I'm a first year student in middle school. Or I was." Keith's voice dipped.

This… this was utterly amazing. For the first time she was standing face to face with a _ghost_. She could actually communicate with the dead and she didn't even need an Ouija board to do it! The perfect opportunity had been given to her! She could actually ask him everything about the life after death and the life as a ghost! Not to mention, how death was like.

"Um, Keith," Soul said as he slowly relaxed, "You mentioned something about the ritual. What ritual do you mean?"

"The ritual you did too. The Sachiko Ever After charm."

Maka's glanced at the boy's soul. "What about the ritual?"

Keith paused. "I admit I don't know much about his place, but hopefully it will be enough for you to figure this place out a little bit more before you die."

"D-die?" Soul gulped loudly. "We're not going to die here."

"That's what everybody says arriving at this place. Then, everybody will wish to die as painless as possible and with someone. You two are lucky you have each other in this hellhole."

"What are you even talking about?" Maka questioned.

"This place is a closed space. A version of the school. I sensed eight souls arrive into this realm and I only sensed you two enter this closed space."

"So what you're saying is… our friends are in a different closed space? As in there's no way we will ever find them?" Maka whispered astonished.

"Exactly. They're in their own closed space of this school. You can run around and yell all you want in hopes of finding your friends, but you won't. You can stand in the same spot as them and you would still not find them."

"So… it's just me and Soul now?"

"If that's your names, then yes," Keith quickly added. "But two of your friends are also together in a space. You two should consider yourself lucky. At least you've someone to die together with."

"We're not going to die," Soul sneered at the boy. "We busted down the exit. We're _leaving_ this place."

"This is a _closed space_. Even if you got out of this school, you would still not be able to escape this hellhole. You're stuck here till your dying breaths and even then, you'll be prisoned here to forever suffer the pain you felt when you died."

"Fuck," Soul sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "There has to be something we can do? We can't die here."

"Many have tried until the space devoured them. Everyone who entered this realm has died. There is absolutely no way out."

"No." Soul started pacing back and forth. "You said something about the ritual. The Sachiko Ever After. What does it have in common with this place?"

Maka flinched just hearing this. No. This… what if it was connected to the charm? She… she might be the one who dragged all her friends into this hellhole. She was the reason they were all lost and suffering. Even though she had thought about the possibility… she had ignored the voice in her head and trusted her conscious in the hands of ignorance for the first time.

"The Sachiko Ever After charm says it will bring people together forever. Someone of your friends mustn't have taken it seriously and fucked around with it. Now you're all transported to this realm where you can die and live forever in this godforsaken pl—"

"No!" Maka exclaimed, "This can't be! No… No!" Maka stood up and stormed toward the door, she forcefully pulled at the door handle and to her surprise it opened without any effort. She ran out to the corridor with tears running down her face.

"Maka! Hey!" Soul called as he ran after her. "Hold up a sec."

She didn't wait or slow down.

Someone had messed up the charm. _Someone_ hadn't listened to her and the charm had failed. And the consequences were beyond her wildest imaginations and they were paying the price of playing with the occult.

But she couldn't put the blame on one of her friends. This was all her fault. It was entirely her fault. She was the one who found the charm online. She was the one who suggested it. She was the one who led the charm. She is the one aware of the dangers of playing with the occult, but she still persisted on exploring the unknown and pushing the boundaries in regards of the undead. It was all her fault her friends were split apart, left to wander this place and to die. It was all her fault they were all going to die here. She was the first link in the chain.

She was a murderer.

She murdered her friends when she pulled out the paper doll.

"Stop it!" Soul screamed as he grabbed onto her wrist.

"What?!" She whirled around, tears running down her cheeks. "What do you want?!"

"Get a hold of yourself. What is done is done." She ripped her hand away from his. "We can't go back and undo the ritual. Get a fucking hold of yours—"

Flesh on flesh resonated in the corridor from Maka's slap. Soul's head whipped to the side and a red hand mark started blossoming on his cheek. "Stop saying that when _I'm_ the reason we're all stuck here. Our friends are probably dead and we're both going to die too. I'm the reason we will forever relive the pain of our deaths."

A pregnant pause hung around them. Soul took a step closer and his palms cupped her shoulders. "The ritual idea was yours, but you didn't know this would happen. All you wanted was for us to forever be linked together. I know you would rather cut of your own arms than harm us. I can't hold this against you and I know the others can't either because you didn't know nor meant for this to happen."

He did have a point. There was no way for her to know _this_ would happen to them. But she was more aware about the risks of messing around with the occult. She thought she had been clear with the others they couldn't mess around with the ritual. Shit. If she just hadn't brought up the ritual they would've never been in this mess.

It really is her fault they were going to die here.

This was their grave.

To rot in the corridors and to never be found by their loved ones.

Her lip tensed as she stared into Soul's understanding and forgiving eyes. She didn't deserve any of his kindness. She pulled him to this awful place where he would forever suffer the pain of his death. He didn't deserve that.

Shame washed over her like a high tide and she ripped her gaze away from his. "Could you go and grab my bag?"

"We can both go and get it."

"No… I just need to sit down for a while."

"And you will still be here?"

"I will still be here."

His hands squeezed her shoulders as his gaze searched for hers. "Just so you know, I don't hold any of this against you. 's all cool between us, okay?" He patted her shoulder before he started backing away from her, keeping an eye on her as if she would disappear right in front of him. He went inside of the room and there was her opportunity.

She turned on her heel and walked away from the door to the small storage room.

It was better this way.

For now.

…

With quick steps, Soul entered the small storage room once again and snatched Maka's messenger bag up from the floor.

"Oh by the way," the boy spoke up from the other side of the bookshelf, "If you see a soul like mine, except it's red, I suggest you run away and not trust a single word it says. The red souls are aggressive and consumed by hatred. It could lie to you, alert enemies of this place, or attack you."

"Thanks dude, but I gotta bounce now." Impatiently he had been jogging on the spot, knowing all too well Maka was in a weaker mental state and being alone in a place like this was dangerous.

"One more thing."

Soul grimaced at the boy's voice and halted in his step. "Make it quick."

"Hold onto each other. This place messes with your head more than you can imagine. It will drive you insane in more ways than the usual. Stay together no matter what and keep each other grounded."

"Thanks." He opened the door and this time, the boy let him go.

"I hope you and Maka will die together peacefully."

He ignored the boy's comment and closed the door.

She wasn't there. The spot where he had stopped her was bare without a trace of her or any sound of her.

Fuck! He knew it was a bad idea to let her out of his sight! He knew he should've grabbed a hold of her hand and dragged her ass back to the storage room so she could get her stupid bag herself! He ought to have known better. This was all on him.

He had to find her quick!

Before the chainsaw dude found her and chopped her up in little pieces.

He clenched his free hand, trying to stop it from shaking. Fuck. Now when Maka wasn't around to be his focus point, he really needed his anxiety pills. Why did he have to put them in his locker! Wes would surely lecture him once he got home of always keeping his meds on him at all time.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Staying calm was his number one concern. He couldn't start panicking or lose himself to his anxiety. All that mattered was finding Maka _alive_.

After releasing his breath he started jogging through the corridors, too afraid to call her name in fear of luring the chainsaw dude to him, or to her. Occasionally he stopped and listened for any sounds of Maka. His eyes scanned the scenes for any sign of Maka, but he didn't know where to start. The place was beaten and broken and he had no clue if it had been like that, or maybe Maka could've done something on her way away from him. Fuck. He didn't have the unusual tracking skill like Black*Star or Kilik had, fuck! If he could just remember what signs they searched for…

He turned right into a new corridor and yelped loudly at the horrifying blood trail on the wooden floor― it was as if… as if someone had been dragged across the floor. Blood was splattered on the wall and the windows to the classroom were broken and glass shards littered the floor. His heart sunk to the floor at the sight of _fresh_ blood on the shards. This was recent.

They had passed this corridor before and… there hadn't been anything weird about it. Nothing that stood out from the "ordinary" in this realm; although… the candle Maka had left inside of the classroom had somehow been moved out in the corridor.

His lower lip quivered as he neared the door to the classroom with the broken window. Carefully he listened.

Someone… someone was murmuring.

"…atty."

His eyes shot open at the familiar voice. Soul catapulted up and slammed the door open, it loudly banged against the wall and wood broke under the force from the door knob.

Bile turned in his stomach at the disturbing scene laid before him. Maka was rocking back and forth, clutching her knees to her chest as she sobbed.

"How could they hurt you like that?" she murmured as her nails dug into her knees.

"You okay?" he asked, but received no answer. She kept on murmuring and rocking back and forth as if he had never approached her.

Something was odd. Very odd. He rounded her and her eyes didn't even waver, staying blank as if… as if they had no life at all and she was no longer present within this realm. The boy's soul had talked about parallel spaces, _closed spaces_ , had she… had she somehow managed to travel to another closed space? But her body was still here…? He had no clue about the science of this, but he was pretty sure, if she had gone to a different parallel space, her body wouldn't be here.

"They ripped and they smashed and they ripped and they smashed and they ripped and they smashed," she mumbled repeatedly, her gaze completely transfixed on the horrifying gore feast on the wall. "And all over the wall, you wer d."

Just who was she even talking about? Splattered? Maybe she hadn't gone to a different closed space. Maybe… maybe she connected with the soul of the person who died. But where was the soul? He couldn't see any blue or red orb for that matter. Who the heck was she even talking with?

"I'm sorry…" she sobbed as a silent tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you… It's entirely my fault… Patty."

His eyes widened. All his hair on his arm rose.

No way.

No freaking way!

His eyes slowly drifted toward the gory mess on the blackboard. All the bones and muscles and skin tissues all mixed together and splattered on the wall. There was no way to identify who it could be. For all he knew, this _didn't have to be_ Patty.

"Hey come one, snap out of it." He dived in front of her and started to shake her shoulders, head whipping violently, "It isn't funny!"

Incoherent sounds left her mouth before her eyes fluttered and they were once again shining with consciousness.

"Will you stop it!" she sneered and pushed him away hard he fell on his ass.

"Ouch, you didn't have to push me!" Soul scoffed as he rubbed his lower back.

"You were shaking me you idiot!"

"Because you were acting weird!"

"Weird?" Maka's eyes fluttered with confusion. "Weird how?" She took in her surroundings and she gasped, slapping her hands over her mouth when she gazed at the huge mess of human flesh against the wall. "What's even that! _Where are we?_ "

Now it was his turn to be surprised. Hasn't she remembered any of what she had said? Had she truly been absent? Or even possessed?

"Um, Maka, what's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

"I remember… we were in the storage room. The boy… he said it's my fault we're here…" She bit her lower lip as her eyes twisted with pain.

"Is that all?"

She shook her head. "No, I remember I went outside. You followed me. You went to fetch my bag and I wanted some space. I headed down a corridor and…" she paused.

"And what?" Soul encouraged.

"I… I heard voices."

"Voices? Whose voice?"

"I don't know. I could hear their voices… but I couldn't understand them nor even pinpoint whose voice it was. The next moment I was being shaken by you." She stared him into his eyes. "What happened, Soul?"

Soul's lips tensed into a thin line. Could it have been Patty calling out to her? No way. They didn't even _know_ if it was Patty dead across the wall. There were too little evidence and he wasn't going to burden her any further with just _a_ _theory_. She had run away from him when the truth they were here because of the charm had torn her up. If he told her Patty could be dead, he wasn't sure she could take it. She was already in a very unstable state of mind, right now wasn't the moment to tell her.

He shrugged his shoulders. "No clue. I found you here. You were murmuring so I couldn't hear anything you said." He got up on his feet and offered his hand to her. "Let's just leave this room. It gives me the creeps."

"No kidding." For the first time, she accepted his hand and he pulled her up on her feet.

Just when she was about to release his hand, he squeezed it tightly as his eyes turned serious, gazing into hers. "No running away this time, okay? We need to stick together to survive in this place."

"Yeah," she breathed. "Sorry about disappearing. I just… needed time to take all of this in." Her voice lowered.

"As much as I approve of taking a moment to take all of this in, believe me, I do, but we really need to start finding a way to get out of here and free our friends from the other parallel spaces." His hand slipped from hers and he pulled the strap of her bag off him and handed it toward her. "We'll deal with this together."

A smile spread on her face as she grabbed the strap of her bag, swinging it over her shoulders. "Yeah. We're going to get out of here with all of our friends."

"That's the spirit." He nodded his head toward the exit of the classroom. "Let's head out."

They exited the classroom, but just by the doorframe, Soul lingered. He glanced at the gory splatter on the blackboard. If it really was Patty and Maka had heard voices, he better make sure she stayed away from here. He gazed at the classroom sign before he left with Maka.

Classroom 2-16.


	6. Patty Thompson

Chapter 6

_Patty Thompson_

Something wasn't right. After the earthquake had hit them, she couldn't get in contact with Marie. She screamed her throat sore to receive a reply from her, but none came. She started to fear the worst, that she had been severely wounded in the earthquake, maybe even unconscious. Even if she had managed to escape unharmed, the timer had already gone off, signalling thirty minutes had already passed. To be on the safe side, she had restarted the timer and when it rang once again, now an hour had gone by since she left to search for the others.

It was settled. Something was keeping Marie away from her. She knew her teacher. Marie was protective of her students like a lioness of her cubs. She always did everything and more for her students. Reading a ten-paged essay and give feedback on it by tomorrow? No problem. She cared about them so much and for her to not have showed up over an hour, she knew it wasn't a question if she had forgotten the time, it was a question about _what_ was keeping her away from her.

Patty bit her lower lip as she gripped her cell phone in her hand to the point of her knuckles went pale.

She had been in worse places when she and Liz lived on the streets. They had spent their nights under bridges and in abandoned houses they had to share with other homeless people, some nice, some were a nightmare to handle. They had lived like that for months. It had been scary, not knowing where you would spend the night or when you would get your next meal. After Kid had taken them into his home and helped them get part-time jobs at the local café, she promised herself she would do everything in her power to avoid living like that again.

But even a life on the street had been better than _this_.

This was scary. She was all alone in this horrifying place. It didn't help her pulsing and hurting leg. Even if Marie had splinted it, it still hurt badly. At least on the street she had her sister and a weapon to protect themselves. Now she was all alone, wounded and no means to protect herself. She just wanted her sister. She just wanted Liz to be here and get her out of here. She wanted her stuffed giraffe and Liz's special hot cup of cocoa with whipped cream, marshmallows and chocolate sauce. All she wanted was Liz to be here and assure her everything would be alright.

Hot tears ran down her cheeks and she sobbed. Her small body quivered as she cried, hugging herself in a poor attempt at soothing her own fear, but it was all in vain.

There had to be a way she could reach the others. She had tried to call her sister with her phone but there was no service. She had tried to yell for help but nobody came. Whatever she did, she couldn't reach anyone!

With shaky hands, she unlocked her phone, ignoring the no service icon as she pressed on her sister's contact information. As the eerily familiar silence from the phone not connecting to the network, she held her breath and hoped it would connect, but every time it was cut off. She couldn't call her. She bit her lower lip as she went on to try calling Kid. Then Tsubaki. Then Maka. Then Black*Star. Then Soul. She even tried to call the school but it didn't matter what number she tried to call, she couldn't reach any of them.

She sobbed as she closed down the phonebook and her background picture of her and Liz came into view. It was a picture after a rough night at the local café and the owner had given them sundaes for their good work. They grinned at the camera as they held their spoons high in the air, sundaes right in front of her.

What would Liz do in this situation? She had always been the brain when they lived on the streets. She knew the ins and outs and exactly where to be and not to be. Liz was street smart. On the same level as Maka on her academics. Liz would know exactly what to do in a situation like this and what not to do. What would she do?

She would take in consideration that this place was safe for now, but it was only in the moment. Bad people were everywhere. Especially in sketchy places like this and she knew very well what they could do to an innocent girl. If someone arrived here, there was nowhere for her to hide. She couldn't curl up under the desk with her splinted leg. But she couldn't stay here either. Moving in her condition was beyond energy-consuming and if she ran into a rotten egg, she wouldn't be able to defend, attack nor flee. If she tried to move around it would expose her to danger, but also giving her the opportunity to find Miss Marie and her sister. Staying here was safe temporarily. If she waited around long enough, _someone_ had to find her.

But then again, something was preventing Miss Marie from return to her, going to look for her was dangerous. But she could be lying under a collapsed ceiling or maybe she was hit by a lamp. She could be in critical condition and in need of help.

If there was something she learned from her stay on the streets, you couldn't gain anything by playing it safe. You had to go all in and do whatever it took to win. No dirty tricks were off limit as long as you weren't caught. If she was going to find Miss Marie or Liz, she had to get away from here and search for them. Her leg was broken, but she still had one working leg.

If they wouldn't come to her, she had to find them.

She hissed as she slowly started to heave herself from underneath the desk, reaching for the broken chair pieces Miss Marie had broken earlier. It was long enough to act as a crutch. She grabbed the other one and used both of the chair pieces to haul herself up on her good leg, hissing in the process from jostling her leg. It hurt, but she knew without the splint, she wouldn't be able to move. Miss Marie had done a god job fixing her leg. She could move. She _had_ to move.

The ends of the chair pieces dug into her armpits as she slowly heaved herself forward. She huffed as she exited the room and found herself at the end of a corridor. Sha panted heavily as she staggered forward.

"Miss Marie! Liz! Where are you!" she called out. No reply.

"Kid! Maka!" no answer.

"Black*Star! Tsubaki! Soul!" Only the silence answered her.

Where could they be? They had to be around here somewhere and they should've been able to hear her. She was sure they wouldn't all leave without her. Certainly not Miss Marie or Liz. Liz would rather risk her own life in order to find her. Liz _had_ to be around here somewhere, the question was _where_.

She reached the end of the T-corridor, her back crashing against the wall and she panted, completely out of breath by just taking a few steps with the help of her makeshift crutches. Her head whipped from side to side, shocked at the view before her. The place was a lot rougher than she thought. It didn't look anything like her school. Or a building she had been in before. The wooden floor was dark with age and the curtains were tampered and stained. The only things seemingly functioning were the windows. Not a single one had a crack or was broken. Even though the curtains were barely kept together, one even had slice damage, but the window had not even a single scratch. Outside it was raining and it splattered against the glass. Everywhere she looked outside, only a sea of trees surrounded the building.

What was this place? The school was far from the forest and the abandoned building in the woods was far too small. The floors were of wood, not cement. Liz and her knew all the vacant building in Death City, but this one she hadn't seen.

This building… where on earth was she?

When she was done resting she supported herself on her makeshift crutches. She decided upon turning left. Miss Marie was forgetful and when it came to orientate around new environments, she would fail horribly every time. The right way looked less inviting with the darkness at the end of the corridor, but to the left, there was a light in the dark. Miss Marie had to have gone toward it.

She jumped toward the light with the help of her crutches. The light grew brighter and brighter until she came to a stop in front of a candle placed on the ground. She knew the candle too well. It was Maka's special candles she would light when it was horror story time.

This confirmed it. She and Miss Marie weren't alone. Maka was here too. She saw Maka and Soul fall down through the broken floor, it was safe to say she was close to him. She and the other of their friends had also fallen through the collapsed floor. They were all here. It was simply odd they hadn't run into each other.

She would've picked up the candle if she could juggle supporting herself on the chair legs and not burning herself. She continued walking down the corridor, eyes scanning the ground, walls, ceiling― _everything_ to find a trace of any of her friends, teacher and sister.

A gasp ripped her throat when suddenly a light passed by her peripheral. Her head whipped and her hair brushed against her shoulders as she tried to catch the light.

"Sis?" she asked.

As she tried to pinpoint the light but it disappeared inside of the classroom, illuminating the room and exposed the palm prints on the windows to the classroom. Her eyebrow rose as she turned toward the now lit up classroom.

What is the light? The light hadn't been inside of the classroom before. Whatever it was… dared she say it? It simply couldn't be. It had to be her imagination. The light couldn't have _moved_ inside of the classroom. The door was closed and she didn't hear it open. It had to have been lit. It just had to be her mind playing tricks on her and she simply didn't notice the light. The light could've been bounced on the windows to the classroom by Maka's candle, making it look like it was a part of the candle. It was logical. Maka would probably come to the same conclusion.

But what was the light?

She slowly hopped toward the door on her crutches. She supported herself against the wall as she opened the aged door handle. It creaked loudly open and she found the source of light. In the corner of the room, a little girl had her legs pulled up to her chest and her pink mop of hair was messy as she buried her head in her knees. The child's arms hugged her legs as she quivered. The girl was very young. Possibly an elementary student judging from her size.

"H-hello little girl." Her voice quivered. "Are you lost too?"

Her blood ran cold when the small child's deep blue eyes snapped toward her. The child's eyes made her skin crawl. The child's eyes… they were blank. As if they were absent of life and only death was left. The child remained silent as it kept on staring at her.

She wanted to run away. Every cell in her body whispered for her to run out of the room as fast as she could, but the kid was all alone. She couldn't leave her in a creepy place like this. They could look for her friends together.

"How did you get here?" she asked.

The child remained eerily quiet.

There was something about the girl in front of her that wasn't quite… she didn't know how to put her finger on it, but the child was… it was an accumulated picture. The blank eyes. Lack of expression. The glow and―

The glow?

Now when she was thinking about it, the child had a slight glow to her. The black robe seemingly glowed a pale blue hue. It… a glow like that wasn't _normal_.

The uneasy feeling she had flared up and she backpedalled slightly. "What happened to you?"

Her breath was lost when the child suddenly smiled. Not any smile. Wide smile showing off her teeth. "You oing ho hie." Her speech was slurred, but she heard the message wide and clear.

Her stomach dropped. Why would a child say something like that! Miss Marie had taken care of her leg as well as she could've considering the situation, but it wouldn't kill her! She wasn't going to die!

The small girl started to wave toward her. "Bye bye, lihle one," the child spoke again and she was― fading? No. The child slowly moved _through_ the wall!

What is this kind of place?!

Was the child a― _a ghost?!_

The child disappeared through the wall and she was left inside of the classroom. Finally she acted on her urge, she was going to get the hell away from there! Ghosts― from Maka's ghosts stories, she knew encounters with them were dangerous. She needed to _leave_ and warn all of her friends!

She spun around and her stomach dropped.

At the end of the classroom, three children around the same age as the one wearing black appeared with a brighter blue glow and certainly more expressive of their craze.

Every bone in her body shook in fear as the three girls― _ghosts_ came closer. They had blocked her only escape out of the classroom. The windows out to the hallways were still an option, but how would she be able to escape with a broken bone _and_ the damage from jumping through a window. How was she even supposed to outrun the supernatural?

Her tooth bit her lower lip as she backpedalled to the blackboard and pressed her back against it was the ghosts grew closer and closer.

Who was she kidding? There was only one option!

She let out a loud scream as she wobbled as fast as she could toward the window. She yelled as she went through the window and glass shards rained down on her and the floor. She winced as she crawled through the glass shards, the shards digging into her palms and arms and drawing blood. She was suddenly stuck.

She looked over her shoulder and none of the ghosts were anywhere near her, instead the ghosts missing an eye made pulling motions toward her as if she was tugging on an invisible rope.

"NOO!" Patty screamed at the top of her lungs, her nails dug into the floor. She held onto the floor, grabbed anything that could keep her away from the three ghosts. But even her best efforts were in vain. The pull was far too strong.

Pain erupted when her nails broke and blood stained the dents on the floor. A blood-cold scream tore her throat when a painful tug on her broken leg ripped at her flesh. Tears welled in her eyes as she heard the wood from her splint break. She screamed at the top of her lungs when her leg was twisted painfully slowly. She desperately turned on her back to relieve the pain, but the leg was instead snapped and tore off. Her breathing came quick and heavy as she saw her broken leg _detached_ from her body. She witnessed her broken leg rising from the ground in the air, blood dripping from it as it was launched toward the wall in the hallway. In awe, her leg wasn't simply tossed against it and bounced off, in such speed it collided with the wall and it was pulverized into a mess of blood and meat. Even the bone was turned to nothing.

"Get away from me!" Patty screamed at the horror. "I don't want to die!"

The three girls giggled as if they were _happy_ seeing her beg for her life.

"What do you want from me?! I've done _nothing_ to you!"

She let out a scream of horror when she was dragged. The ghost reeled her into the classroom. She grabbed a hold of the doorframe, nails scratching the wood and blood poured from her finger tips. The ghosts were too strong. In one powerful tug, she lost her grip.

She was back inside of the classroom with no way of escaping.

The girl with her head cut off above her mouth grinned wide and she jumped at her. She landed on her hips and her tiny hand took a swing at her gut. The air was knocked out of her lungs. She wanted to scream but it was as if plastic had covered her mouth. Just from one hit, a hit far too powerful for a small child, her gut exploded in pain. For a moment, she could feel her hands grace her spine.

The small girl rejoiced in seeing her in pain. She giggled madly as her hands clawed at her shirt, tearing the fabric as if it was child's play.

"Stop it!" Patty screamed once she regained herself. She tried to fight off the ghost, hissing in pain for every time her nails scratched her stomach, drawing blood as she tried to claw her guts out.

In an instance, the other girl with guts hanging from her school uniform and long hair stained with dried blood, she grabbed her wrist and before she knew it, it was ripped from her body. She screamed in pain. The other girl joined and all three girls ripped her stomach open.

The pain was overwhelming. Her leg and arm was gone. The three girls laughed in joy as they played with her intestines. _Her_ blood staining their hands, face and uniform. The pain was blinding. It was utterly unbearable. She couldn't handle it.

There was no escaping this. Even if she was rushed to a hospital, she doubted they would be able to save her. She was doomed. This was it… she― she was _dying_.

All she wanted was the pain to end. For the girls to end it all and then the pain would escape. She couldn't handle this anymore.

As many stories of people facing death, her life flashed before her eyes when the floorboard left her back. She saw Liz's smiling face. Liz protecting her and always being by her side. Selflessly caring for her and skipping meals only so she could eat.

And Kid. Sweet Kid who had saved them. Found them on the streets and taken them under his wing. He had managed to provide them a _home_. Something they hadn't experienced before.

And Maka, Tsubaki, Black*Star and Soul. They had been great friends. The best. They made her time at school bearable and… she loved them all so much. She loved them with all of her heart.

If only… if only she could see them one more time.

A tear trickled from her eyes when she was launched toward the blackboard.


	7. The Incident at Gallows Elementary School

Chapter 7

_The Incident at Gallows Elementary School_

Tsubaki always had the feeling this wasn't a prank. She knew Black*Star well enough that he would've never been able to plan this, and all of this was way too much for Soul to handle alone. Knowing without a doubt and with clarity _this_ was all real was… scarier than she thought it would be.

They were trapped within a school they knew very little about with three children looking to kill _anyone_. All of their friends… they didn't know where they were, but she hoped they weren't _here_. All she hoped was they had already found a way to escape this place and gotten away from here.

Her arms tightened around Liz who had calmed down a little, but was still shaken up by the reality. She needed to help her get away from here quickly. Liz had already been through so much, she didn't deserve to be here. And trapped in a nightmare the least. Liz had trouble keeping herself together when Maka told her ghost stories, and now they were experiencing one.

The thought of finding a good hiding spot for her to hide in while she searched for an exit had struck her, but she wasn't sure Liz would be able to handle it. She was shaken up like she had never seen her, and rightfully so, but how would she be able to help her? She couldn't take Liz with her, but she couldn't leave her either, and if they stayed in the same place, the ghost children would find them eventually.

They had to do something. But _what?_

"Hey Liz," Tsubaki spoke up. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask you this."

"W-what?"

"Do you want to hide until I've found an exit or do you want to come with me searching for it?"

Liz grew silent, thinking over her options. "What if you run into the ghosts?"

"Don't worry. I will be careful." Tsubaki comfortingly squeezed her bicep. "It would give you time to calm down. And when you've calmed down, I'll be back to get you to the exit."

"… where will I hide?"

Tsubaki gazed around the classroom until she settled on the teacher's desk and chair. "Over there." She gestured toward it with her head.

"Why there and not in the closet?" Liz pointed at the back of the classroom.

"If the ghosts are smart, they will know that's a typical hiding spot. Under the desk is an unconventional place to hide and with the chair looking like it does, we can easily create the illusion that no one can hide under it."

"O-oh, right. I should've known that."

Her fear was really eating away at her. Even with Liz's wide set of skills of survival was dulled by her fear. Liz really needed time to take all of this in.

Tsubaki gave her a comforting hug before she pulled away. She went over to the teacher's desk and she grabbed a hold of the chair. She broke off the front of its legs and she scooted it in. With the fine details almost covering the whole back, it would be hard to see what was under the desk. A perfect place to hide. It would create the perfect illusion of being completely pushed forward and no one would know the front legs of the chair were gone and there was a perfect amount of room for someone to hide in.

She was about to call for Liz to come when she really started to pay attention to what was on the table. It was an old newspaper article. It shouldn't have bothered her, but the black and white picture was of a school and the headline read _"Principle found dead by the closed down elementary school"_.

She raised her eyebrow.

_On Saturday morning the police found the principle of Gallows Elementary School dead. Their investigation showed the principle had to have jumped from the roof to his death. The police speculate the victim wore a mask over his head and committed suicide due to the incidents tied to the elementary school and the recent closing of it._

She couldn't help but to think about the ghost story Maka had told about Gallows Elementary School. The one about a teacher falling to her death in a stairway. The principal had covered himself and jumped to his death. So the incident had been about the teacher, but the article had _incidents_ written out. The teacher's death was one incident. What more was it about this school?

She couldn't help but to feel there was more to this school. The ghost children were here for a reason. The school had turned this way for a reason. _They_ were here for a reason. And she wanted to uncover it.

But first a way out.

"What are you looking at?" Liz asked.

Tsubaki looked up from the paper and shook her head. "It's nothing special. Just an article about this school."

"Anything useful?"

Tsubaki shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It's a little about what happened here."

"What did?"

She offered her a smile. "We can talk about that later." She gestured for Liz. "Come here. You'll be safe as long as you are hiding under the desk."

Liz seemingly accepted her brush off and on shaky legs Liz got up and made her way over to the desk. She pulled out the modified chair, help Liz get under the teacher's desk and when she was about to put the chair in place, Liz grabbed a hold of her leg.

"Promise me you will be careful."

Tsubaki kneeled down in front of Liz and she grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. "I promise. I'll be very careful."

Liz seemed relieved when she rested her back against the drawer under the teacher's desk. Tsubaki pulled Liz's hand from her and gave an encouraged smile.

"Calm down and make sure you stay quiet. I will be back before you know it with an exit."

"Good luck."

Tsubaki placed the chair in the way and it truly was perfect. The thorough coverage of the back chair made it really difficult to see Liz. As long as she stayed quiet and still, no one would be able to discover her.

She left Liz within the classroom and as silently as she could, she cracked the door open, quietly closing it behind her. The white paint on the sign had become an aged yellow and it read 2-6. There was no sound of any more victims or the three ghost girls. Good. They had probably left after they had gotten their kill. But now she also didn't know where they were. They could be anywhere. She needed to stay on her guard. Liz was counting on her.

She tiptoed down the corridors, listening carefully for any sounds, but all the sound she heard was the rain splattering against the windows. She found a stairway and she found herself on the ground floor. Now there had to be an exit. If she simply followed the windows, she would eventually find an exit out of the school.

Now when she had found the article on the demise of the principle of Gallows Elementary School, her eyes seemed open and alert for any more pieces of papers. She passed a deceased body that seemed have fallen through the ceiling but no notes were present.

She kept on walking through the corridor. Her ears sharpened when the sound of rain seemingly grew louder. Her steps hurried and she found herself jogging as silently as she could. Joy rooted in her belly when she found a small nook turning right. She rounded the corner and she wanted to weep in joy. Planks and nails were discarded on the ground in front of the main entrance that stood wide open and rain poured outside. She could smell the wet rain and feel the humidity outside on her skin.

She had to find Liz!

She whirled around and she bolted back. She ran up the stairs and she hurried her way back to the classroom. She broke through the door and hurried forward to the desk.

"Liz!" she exclaimed as she pulled away the chair. "I found a way out! I found the main entrance! We can go home!"

Liz's eyes widened in shock. "Y-you did?"

She nodded eagerly. "I did. Let's leave!"

"But what about Patty? She could still be in here."

"She is a smart girl. She and everybody else trapped in here are all clever and they will find the exit too."

Liz remained quiet. Her lips tense and a small wrinkle appeared between her eyes. "What if Patty can't find her way out? She…" Liz's jaw tightened. "She _needs_ me."

"She could already be outside. We could check if all of our friends are outside already and there could be better reception outside. Maybe then we can call them."

After a long paus, Liz slowly nodded. "Alright."

She offered her hand to Liz which she accepted. She heaved Liz on her feet and she showed Liz the way. They tiptoed their way through the corridor, she showed Liz the way. They went down the stairs and before they knew it, the sound of rain grew closer and she could visibly see how relieved Liz grew at the familiar sound.

Wood clattered together around the corner inside of the hall. She grabbed Liz's wrist and they came to a halt.

Someone was in the hall.

As cautiously as they could they snuck over to the corner and peaked inside. Passed the wooden shelves with small shoes scattered everywhere, a guy stood. He wasn't glowing and… he seemed to be around their age, maybe a little bit older. She could tell simply looking at his back he was wearing a school uniform, but it wasn't one she had seen before. For some reason… he didn't look dangerous. He didn't seem like he was someone they needed to stay away from.

Carefully she rounded the corner, keeping her distance. "Hey."

The guy literally jumped into the air and he spun around, eyes wide and on high alert.

"We're Liz and Tsubaki. We're both trying to escape out of here―"

"No! Stay away!" The man interrupted Liz and he sneered toward them as he backpedalled. "I don't believe you."

"Hey, hey, hey." Liz raised her hands in surrender. "We're not going to hurt you. We aren't like the ghost kids. We don't glow."

"Who says you're not taken by the madness!" he growled at them. "I don't believe you! No one will believe you!" Before they knew it, he twirled and dashed toward the main entrance. He threw himself out of the hall and out in the rain. They quickly went after him.

A loud bang went off and dirt, blood and flesh scattered all over them. Warm liquid and dirt hit her face, clothes and thighs. She could barely believe it… the ground exploded under his foot and… unknowing to all of them, he was gone just like that without a warning. The guy they had run into was gone before they knew it. For just a moment, silence filled and only the rain could be heard.

A thousand thoughts ran through her mind. The warm liquid almost burned her skin and it reeked of copper which burned her nose. Her heartbeat pulsed in her head and her knees shook from the shock. Her legs gave in and she fell on the ground, the rain pouring around them and all she could see was where the guy had stepped and turned into pieces.

"I can't believe this…" Tsubaki murmured. "I-I can't—…" She turned away from the horrendous scene and she buried her face in her hands. "W-w-what just happened?!"

She could barely process it all. The guy. He had been alive and talking and then— he had been blown apart and the ground had been ripped up. A mine. It had to be a mine he had stepped on. But who would plant _mines_ around an _elementary school?!_

She madly shook her head and her long hair whipped her face from the force.

Who was she kidding? _This_ might've been an elementary school once or appeared like one, but it was _not_ an innocent school. This was hell with ghosts trying to kill them and windows that wouldn't budge. She should've known the suspicious _open_ entrance door had a catch. It had simply been bait, an electric lamp to draw the flies in and before they knew it, they were electrified to death. Only this time, because of the guy's impatience and flight sense, he had stepped into the mouse trap instead of them.

If they— holy shit… If she had gone with Tsubaki… that would've been _them_.

Her whole body started quivering madly, her hands clenched and the mud got under her nails she usually was very particular of her nail care. At the moment, she didn't care. Her mind was wrapped at the new idea that if she had been braver and went with Tsubaki, they would've been dead. _They_ could've been the blood and meat splatter on the ground mixed with the dirt.

She bit her lower lip and she breathed heavily.

This place— this place was driving her insane! All this time they had tried to find a way out as they had tried to survive— but this place was just _playing_ with them! It was playing with their heads and kicking them slowly in the legs, just waiting for them to give in before they ended them.

Her breath came quick and she breathed heavily, her fingers entangled in her hair and the mud dirtied her blonde strands. The scary thought of what could've happened to them consumed her. She could see images of _her_ body scattered on the ground and her blonde hair cascading down as a slow reminder of what had happened. The images almost torn her mind to pieces before Tsubaki's warm hand placed on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"W-w-we need t-to get away from h-here," the usual calm and collected Tsubaki stuttered. "I-it was loud— t-they could be on their way h-here."

The ghosts. The three little girls had to have heard the explosion. With their lust for blood the ear-deafening sound couldn't have gone over their heads. Tsubaki was right, they had to be on their way.

She allowed Tsubaki to pull her up on her feet and on her own, Tsubaki supported her inside of the nightmare building. When they had found the exit, she had never wanted to walk inside of the school ever again, but here they were; willingly stumbling inside to avoid any evil ghosts they could run into.

Tear trickled down her cheeks and mixed with the blood and dust on her face. A light caught Tsubaki's attention and she steered them toward the classroom. Tsubaki struggled with juggling supporting her while she tried to unlock the classroom door. After a few attempts the door slid open and they wobbled inside and Tsubaki kicked the door shut behind them.

"It's Maka's candle!" Tsubaki heaved with relief and they sunk down beside it, still quivering from the shock of what they had seen. Her hand quivered and she found the piece of paper and pen left on the ground.

It was a note from Maka.

_Soul and I are together. We're both fine. We saw a guy with a chainsaw lurking around the corridor. Make sure to stay away from him. He's bad news._

"A-a-a-a _chainsaw?!_ " she exclaimed.

Maybe reading the note before they had calmed down was a mistake.

Tsubaki closed her eyes and her mouth formed a tense line. She inhaled loudly before she opened them and turned to her. "Let's just…" she shook her head slowly as she picked up Maka's pen she had left behind and she started to scribble on the paper.

_Don't go outside! There are mines buried in the ground! Be on the lookout for three female ghost children. Me and Liz saw them kill an innocent girl without any hesitation. Be on your guard!_

She had looked over Tsubaki's shoulder as she had written down the warning. Even when she was shook, she still managed to think about others. She however, she couldn't even seem to control her own body. She bit her lower lip and she buried her face in her arms as she pulled her knees to her chest.

All she wanted was to go home. All she wanted was to take a long bath and wash off the guy's blood of her body and wash her uniform. She wanted to make her own special face mask and fix her nails. She didn't sign up for this!

Tsubaki's arms wrapped around her and she brought her into her warm embrace. She sobbed and she wrapped her arms around Tsubaki's waist, burying her face in her shoulder. She cried into her arms. Tsubaki allowed her to unleash the uneasiness within her, giving her the precious time they had to stabilize her already swaying sanity.

The concept of time seemed to blur together as she sobbed into Tsubaki's school uniform. The white fabric darkened of her tears and her whole shoulder grew wet. All the frustration of being trapped in this place, seeing dead people and having the threat of death hanging over her head, she cried it all out until her body stopped shaking. Thousands of thoughts run through her mind rapidly and the world seemingly started slowing down as the shock wore off.

When she had finally calmed down, Tsubaki had stopped shaking a long time ago and she ran her hand through her hair soothingly.

"I know it is hard," Tsubaki murmured when she caught on to her calming state of mind. "It's hard for me too."

"H-how do you do it?" Liz asked.

"I remind myself I can't afford to freak out. Not when you are already so frightened and unstable." Tsubaki twirled a hair strand around her finger. "And I'm _a little_ better handling scary places than you."

She blew a raspberry. "That's the understatement of the decade."

"It might be up there, but we all have our strengths and weaknesses. You simply have to be in your biggest weakness."

Tsubaki had a point. Tsubaki's biggest strengths were her kindness, consideration, serenity and her calming nature. Nothing seemed to faze her. She had witnessed people screaming in her face to the point veins almost popped on their forehead and spat went flying, and Tsubaki didn't even budge. Not a muscle. She knew how to handle herself and not react impulsively. She was the embodiment of composure.

The situation they found themselves in was terrifying. It was nothing Tsubaki had ever seen, but yet she managed to keep herself together and keep moving forward, hatching plans of attack while she was quivering and unable to cope with the situation.

It still bobbled her mind. She had lived years on the streets. Taking care of her younger sister, doing _anything_ to keep her from harms' way. She had been beaten and bruised on the street. She had seen thing, _lived_ things she didn't want anybody to endure. It was supposed to be _her_ who handled this, not Tsubaki. Her wide set of skills had prepared herself for something horrifying, but yet it was unbearable. It all revolved around the fact of her strong distaste of abandoned buildings _and_ her strong fear toward the super natural, including horror stories. Now she was engulfed in her very own nightmare and it was taking control of her fear.

Liz sighed shakily and she pulled away from her dear friend. "A weakness can always be overcome."

"With time." Tsubaki reached out and she brushed her bicep comfortingly. "And a little bit of bravery."

Liz nodded shakily and she ran her hand through her hair. "I just… Patty? I just hope she's safe with Kid."

"I'm sure she is. Patty is creative and she sees the positivity in everything. I'm sure she's with him and they're somewhere safe. She's probably drawing something in her notebook or humming on a song." She ran her hand up Liz's arm and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I'm sure all of them are safe. Maka is too smart to be outsmarted by this place and she is skilled in the occult. Soul is quite clever when he needs to be. And Black*Star, this place wouldn't even faze him one bit." Her voice softened and adoration was weaved in every word she spoke about their certain friend.

Liz's stomach knotted and she knew she shouldn't react like that. She cared for Tsubaki. Not simply as a friend. Tsubaki was someone she cherished with her whole heart and she wished Tsubaki would look at her like she looked at her. But her eyes were set on someone else, and had always been.

In class when Marie would lecture about Pride and Prejudice and the society they lived in and Maka would vigorously take notes, her eyes would wander around the classroom. Like how oblivious Maka was of Soul's adoration when he would occasionally fake being asleep when in fact he would be looking at her. Liz recognized her own look in Soul. It was exactly how she looked at Tsubaki. She would look passed Patty sitting and drawing a giraffe in her notebook at Tsubaki seated across the aisle beside Black*Star. She would diligently take notes, but as soon as she was given the chance, her eyes would drift. Right to Black*Star. The worst part of it all was Black*Star would look at Tsubaki the same way.

They had unspoken feelings toward each other and she knew within due time, they would be known. Liz knew better than to dwell on her affection for her friend, but she couldn't. Tsubaki was― she was… one of the most incredible and admirable people she had ever met. She cared for her so much and… quite frankly, she didn't want to let go of her feelings toward her. Even if they would only hurt her in the end.

Tsubaki let out a dry laughter as she smiled as if she was recalling a memory. "He's probably trying to punch through a wall or yelling at the top of his lungs. Or maybe he has probably already found a solution to our problem."

Liz's stomach clenched at how dreamily Tsubaki spoke of Black*Star. Everybody could see they adored each other. Except for Maka because her parents hadn't exactly modelled what a healthy relationship looked like. Or anything related to love honestly.

"Knowing Black*Star he would be the _last_ to find a solution."

"He might come across as brawl and no brain, but if he needs to, he can come up with some unconventional solutions."

Liz blew a raspberry. "Since when did he come up with something useful?"

"Like…" Tsubaki paused. "I can't remember a specific time but he does come up with some interesting thoughts. Simply talking to him he says things that are unique and clever. He knows how to think outside of the box."

"Yeah, like that time when he said if his spine was ever broken, he would hold it up with his muscles because that's how the body works," Liz sarcastically said. "They are outrageous and impossible! None of his ideas are good."

Tsubaki turned quiet. Her hand slipped from Liz's shoulder and she clasped her hands together. "You don't know Black*Star the way I do. I know he is loud and obnoxious in groups, but once you're alone with him, he calms down and he becomes a completely different person."

Liz didn't doubt her. Tsubaki knew Black*Star very well, maybe just as much as Maka even, and they had grown up together. Tsubaki knew Black*Star way more than her and she had seen qualities in him she had never even witnessed a glimpse of, practically didn't exist to her. No matter how she viewed her friend, he would never be associated with the word "calm."

Maybe that was the reason why she only saw Black*Star and not her? What was beneath the surface of Black*Star was something unknown to the others, but to her, she had seen what was deep within him. It had connected them and they shared something Liz couldn't understand. While she and Tsubaki… something wasn't adding up. Maybe Tsubaki simply didn't like girls or… maybe she was too caught up in Black*Star to see anybody else than him.

Whatever the reason, her heart was occupied.

Liz stood up on shakily legs. "Whatever. We should go back to the classroom and figure something out a different plan."

"Hold on." Tsubaki's eyes had drifted to the far end of the classroom.

Liz followed her gaze and what appeared to be a bunch of insignificant papers had caught Tsubaki's attention more than it should. Tsubaki went over to the pieces of papers and grabbed a hold of a paper. She had expected Tsubaki to discard the papers as junk, but her eyes hungrily devoured the message on the papers. She let her curiosity get the better of her and joined Tsubaki by her side, looking over her shoulder.

The letter… the paper wasn't aged like all the other things in the building. In fact, it seemed like it was brand new. Except… the ink had her concerned. It wasn't ink from a ballpoint pen or graphite from a pencil. It seemed like the writer had dipped their finger in dark red ink and written it with their finger. She didn't have to guess what the ink actually was. The scent of copper was strong. Even though she didn't want to think about it, she knew it was blood.

Tsubaki skipped between pages. There were five pages, only two were readable. The other three were either caked in blood or the lines were completely erratic and didn't complete any letters. At least none she could read. It was as if the writer had slowly lost their energy, but their will to write had stayed in their hand and tried to communicate what they wanted.

Her stomach clenched as she started reading the letter.

_This place is cursed. It brings out the worst in everybody. This place had me turned against my best friend since diapers. We thought we were lucky to be together in this hell, but it brought out the worst in us. She attacked ME. She was going to stab me in the back. She was going to kill me, but she failed. I don't even want to write down what I did to her corpse, but I was so thirsty. I had tried to swallow my own spit and lick the window in hope some rain drops would melt through the glass and quench my thirst. After that, I thought I would survive. All the hell I had to go through, I thought it would pay off. It was all for nothing._

_No. It wasn't all for nothing. You who are reading this, be aware. Do not trust anyone. This place has a way of playing with your mind. This place made me turn toward the one person who I trusted my life to. I never thought she would try to kill me. But she did._

_Be. On. Your. Guard! Do not trust anyone!_

The letter had left her stunned. She couldn't believe it. Best friends turning on each other and killing them? That's just no way. They couldn't have been as good friends as they had given themselves out to be. Best friends wouldn't do that. Not even in desperate situations! Tsubaki was her best friend and there was no way she would do anything like that to her! What kind of sick person tries to kill them or drinks their— they just wouldn't do that! The place had creeped her out but there is no way she would actually do something like that!

This place was crazy with blood-lusting ghosts and chainsaw-wielding men! She did _not_ need _this!_

Tsubaki tossed the papers aside in the pool of dried blood. All this blood present here but no body, it was a little bit strange. If the girl was truly gone, she would still be here, but she wasn't…

"This is nonsense." Tsubaki murmured as she stood up. "If they really were best friends, none of that would've happened."

Relief washed over her when Tsubaki came to the same conclusion. "I thought so too. No way best friends would turn against each other like that and do… you know."

"Yeah. We're in a horrible situation but I would never ever want to hurt you."

"Exactly. You're my best friend and I would never even think the thought of letting anything bad happen to you."

Tsubaki slowly shook her head and she stood up, straightening her skirt. "This… this place gives me the creeps. Let's not stay here any longer. W-we should return to classroom 2-6."

Liz made an approving gesture and she nodded toward the paper. "We should write it down. Maybe the others will find us."

Tsubaki went over to the piece of paper and candle. She quickly scribbled down: _This classroom isn't safe, go upstairs to classroom 2-6 and we'll try to meet up there._ As quietly as they could, they headed back to the safety of classroom 2-6, but they knew: wherever they were inside the school, they wouldn't be safe.


	8. The Madness

Chapter 8

_The Madness_

Kid's nails dug into his pants and buried his face in his pants. The cold was starting to get to him. The cool air from outside crawled through the thin round glass window and chilled the clock tower room. He quivered and his breath came out as a thick mist.

In school there hadn't been a need for a clock for him. He had memorized his schedule the same day it was released. He knew exactly when he would have class, which class it was, how long it was and who the teacher was. Every little detail he knew. Like their biology teacher would arrive between three minutes and forty-six seconds early to one minute and fifteen seconds on days only consisting of lectures, when it was time for dissection, he would arrive nine minutes and eight seconds early. When he had been in class, he knew when the class was about to end and during lunch he knew right down to the second when he needed to start heading to class. He was a human clock. In his mind, if he concentrated, he could hear the ticking of a clock. His whole body knew exactly the length of a second, a minute and an hour.

When he was younger and his OCD really started to cripple his life, exposure therapy really helped him deal with his OCD issues related to time and symmetry. When he was younger, simply writing his name was hard because the average person wrote three letters per second. He took minutes to complete his name. If he managed to due to his symmetry obsession.

When he was younger, he managed to keep track of the time with says he murmured in his head or certain gestures he did at certain time of the day. For every hour, he would tap his leg eight times, for every five minutes he would blink once a little bit harder and for every time a certain event or task of the day began, he would think in his head about a counting melody he had made up. When inevitable two tasks collided, anxiety would kick in because he didn't know which of his rituals he would do first. Sometimes he did both at the same time if he could, other days he would have a breakdown or he would come up with an entire new ritual for him to sooth his obsessive mind. It had gotten so bad he had rituals at certain times, he would walk down the stairs, he would eat dinner at the exact time and bath at a certain hour, everything down to the second. It had limited his life and made it really hard for him once he started middle school.

His OCD had gotten so bad he couldn't even get up from the bed because he knew as soon as he got up from bed, he would have to repeat a saying, clap his stomach eight time with both of his hands and before he could exit his bedroom, he would have to count the small tiny dents in his door frame which were 57, until he took upon himself to make 31 dents with his thumb nail to create 88 dents. All of his rituals had to be precisely the same length.

Anything straying or colliding with his rituals or if his rituals weren't finished on time an uncontrollable anxiety would break loose. Anxiety he didn't know how to handle at all. The only way he could control it was to immediately start over with the ritual or come up with a new one that comforted him. He was a prisoner of his mind and his sick mind had crippled him. And his coping mechanism to create new rituals only made his illness even worse.

Exposure therapy had helped him manage his anxiety and obsessive thoughts about time, but he still knew how to measure time to the second. None of his friends knew about his past struggle he had manage to get under control. He didn't even think any of their friends suspected he had any issues related to time. In fact, they would think his only issue is his obsession with symmetry. Like the time he came late to school because he had to make sure the toilet paper was shaped into a triangle. He had known he was running late and he knew down to the second the amount of time he was running late. Not that any of his friends knew. His OCD issues related to symmetry had put a strain on his friendships, if they knew he had time issues too, he didn't know if all of his friends would stay.

For years he had managed to keep his OCD related to time under check thanks to the exposure therapy he would subject himself to every once in a while when he felt the symptoms starting to arise. Ever since he arrived in the mysterious place, his time issues had flared up. Normally the ticking within his head had ticked normally, now it was ticking irregularly and he was _feeling_ it. Every time his internal clock ticked, he cringed. It was supposed to tick either a micro-second earlier or later. Every time he cringed and his anxiety was flaring up. He used every trick in the book to try to handle his anxiety, but it was incredibly difficult now when the ticking was off.

He tried to focus on the rain hitting the window glass and the sound of the creaking of the rope of the deceased student. Every sound that wasn't the ticking, he focused on, trying to drown out his mind. He started humming and his hands moved up to his temples, massaging them gently,

His friends or Miss Marie would arrive soon. Soon they would arrive and they would unlock the hatchet and free him. They were looking for him and he knew they would find him soon. It had already gone one hour and thirty-eight minutes. He would soon hear the unlocking sound and he would be free to exit this hell of a room. Then finally, he could go running to his psychologist and they could help him with his broken clock. He didn't care if his friends found out, he just needed it to stop.

He just needed the ticking to stop!

It had to stop _now!_

Or he would go insane!

His humming grew louder and his focus was on his nails painfully digging into his scalp and his voice trying to drown out the sound of the irregular ticks of his internal clock. All in vain. No external factor could ever drown out his internal sound. The ticking was there. And it wouldn't disappear.

He was stuck there until the hatchet unlocked.

…

Maka's fingers gingerly rubbed her right temple as he steps slowly faltered. Her decreasing speed didn't go unnoticed by her friend. Soul came to a stop and glanced at her over his shoulder, hands in his pockets and aloof as always. "Is something wrong?"

Maka offered a weak smile and she shook her head gently. "No. My head hurts a little, it's probably from tension and dehydration."

She expected for him to accept her deduction and move on, but instead he fully turned toward her, red eyes unreadable as he stared at her. Probably scanning her from any sign of insincerity, which he must've found.

He rounded her and took a seat on the floor, resting his back against the wall. "Take a seat," he spoke without giving away a hint of emotion.

"Really, I'm fine. It's better if we keep on looking for a way out."

Soul patted the space beside him, and her resolve was broken. She straightened out her skirt before she took a seat beside him.

"We don't know how long we will be here, we have to rest eventually if we're going to have the energy to find our friends," he spoke after a paus. "We might as well do it now when you aren't well."

She swallowed the warm sensation before it had a chance to root within her chest.

Soul was her friend. A great friend indeed. Even though he had his moments when she wished to be thousands of miles away from him. Which happened to follow right after Soul and Black*Star had pulled a prank on her. Never when they were alone.

Her breath went short when the sudden thought of the moment she shared with Soul right before summer vacation crossed her mind. The one moment she had dangerously let down her guard.

Their junior year had come to an end and before everybody would part for their summer vacation. Tsubaki would leave to spend the summer in Japan, Black*Star would go to martial art camp and Soul would visit his grandma in New York, while she would be left in Death City with Kid and the Thompson sisters. Their class had arranged a party in the forest near the school ground where they would light a bonfire, she would tell her infamous ghost stories and they would dance the night away.

The get-together had seemed normal. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Ox was acting like a jerk because he was a sore ass because she beat him in the finals and Kim was flirting with Jaqueline. Black*Star thought it would be funny to throw firecrackers in the bonfire and Soul had laughed so hard he fell off the log when she jumped in her seat, rightfully earning a sharp elbow to the rib. Patty climbed all the way up to the very top of the trees which had caused Tsubaki a great deal of worry while Liz had simply waved it away, but still remained by Tsubaki's side as they waited for Patty to come down.

After she had told her ghost stories, she had left the gathering around the bonfire to relieve herself behind a bush. What she hadn't expected was Soul had followed her and waited for her.

She had been on her way back to join her friends when Soul had leaned against a tree. The filtered through light from the moon had perfectly hit his face and his intriguing red eyes were darker, almost to the point of blackness. The moon's light made his hair glow in the dark as he had shrugged of his leather jacket and offered it to her, because he had noticed her cold goose bumps before she disappeared into the forest. Never could she hide it from his watchful eyes, and neither would he accept a refusal. Always when they were alone, his usual stoic cool act and his asshole behaviour would melt away and leave behind a kind and considerate version of him. A version that would leave her heart pounding in her chest, her fingers tingling with desire to run her hands through his silvery hair and abnormal sinful thoughts would appear at the front of her mind.

Soul had always been attractive. With his cool perfectly balanced hair between messy and tidy, wide strong jaw, broad shoulders and the stupid smirk of his that made her mouth run dry. The Adam's apple that she never could get her eyes of off and his slim long fingers she secretly had longed to touch her. Soul had always been conveniently attractive even though his appearance was curious, and she hadn't been the only one finding him attractive.

When he enrolled in her class in the beginning of sophomore year, every girl above and below their grade had been enchanted by his neutral expression and cool silent rebellion when he wore his leather jacket instead of the assigned school blazer.

She didn't think they would talk much to each other. She had her gang of friends and she didn't think he would fit in, but after Soul and Black*Star became friends, he was quickly introduced to her group; and he never left.

It was annoying how her body found him so unbelievable attractive, she thought it would go away, but it never did. It was irritating how her attention would drift to his long fingers or his lips or his collarbones. He was Black*Star's friend. And he certainly wasn't the kind of type she wanted to get involved with.

He knew his type all too well. The classic bad boy who played with girls' hearts before he would discard them once he was done with them. He had plenty of girls who asked him to all kinds of dances and parties and dates and she knew one day he would start accepting those invitations and he would truly embody the douchebag type.

It was a sad thought, but it was true. Soul was kind and a good friend now, but that would change one day.

But it hadn't mattered at the moment. He had approached her in the forest and offered his jacket, and he always smelled so good and he would be gone for the whole summer. So she let down her guard and put on his jacket. His pleasant scent of deodorant had tickled her nose and Soul's warmth lingered in the fabric.

"Congrats on beating Ox, by the way," Soul had said as they talked by the tree.

She had felt more than giddy and good, proud of her achievement of her victory, and feeling the effects of the placebo since she _thought_ Black*Star had spiked the punch, but not hers she learned later on. "It was nothing. I can have the flu and still beat him."

He chuckled the perfect low chuckle that had her stomach clenching. "Yeah, he got nothing on you." He had leaned against the tree and kept his hands shoved in his pockets. "Just don't sit inside and study all summer like a loser. You deserve to finally take a break."

"Of course I won't! I'll read my books."

"Book, really? Come on, you got to get out more often. Now when practically everybody will be gone, you can't just do nothing."

"What? Reading is _fun_. Besides, not _everyone_ will be gone. Liz, Patty and Kid will still be here."

Soul had gone quiet as he stared at her. "You know it's going to be weird not hanging out with Black*Star for the whole summer." He had reached up and massaged his neck. "And… not hearing you complain about me sleeping during class."

"It's just one summer." Maka had shrugged her shoulder, but she had also felt bad. Soul had truly become a part of her friend circle. They might've not hung out a lot one-on-one, but he had still been a friend. When she had forgotten one of her books at Black*Star's place, he had come and delivered her book instead of him. Once she had helped him study for a math test he had to retake. It was going to be odd not having him and Black*Star pulling their awful pranks on her or playing video games with them. She was going to miss them.

"One _long_ summer break."

"Come on, it's not like you'll be bored. You'll see your grandma again and truly have some time with Wes. That is plenty of fun."

Soul had blown a raspberry. "Yeah right. He'll be on his computer working all the time. And grandma… I love her and all, but it's no fun watching her die. You know this will most likely be the last summer I'll spend with her."

"So enjoy it while you still can."

"But when she's napping and… you know, we can talk, right?"

They hadn't texted much with each other. They always hung together as a group and… well, he always texted her when he was stuck on an assignment and needed help or when he forgot what time they would all meet up to hang out.

Her traitorous heart had speeded up and she had nodded. "Sure, text me whenever."

She had been about to return to the party when Soul grabbed a hold of her forearm. She had looked over her shoulder as he had massaged his neck. "Can I…" he had exhaled heavily. "Look, I don't know how to say this but…" He had taken a step toward her and somehow, his foot must've misstepped because before she knew it, he lost his balance and backpedalled into the tree, taking her with him. She had crashed into his chest and her spare arm grabbed his shoulder. Her cheeks had heated when she realized she was wrapped in his arms, her face only centimetres away from his and he stared surprised into her eyes.

Her mouth had opened and closed in panic at the closeness, but was quickly squashed at the feeling of how _good_ it felt. His arm had been around her lower back and his strong fingers now gripped her shoulder. His scent had been ubiquitous and she hadn't had enough of it. She hadn't protested, she had stayed in his arms as his forehead had come to rest against hers. His breath had hit her mouth and she had smelled the soda he had been sipping on. His nose bumped against hers.

"I'm going to miss you," he had whispered.

"I'll miss you too." And it had been the truth, still was the truth. She had missed him that summer when he had been gone.

His words had touched her, made the rhythm in her chest hasten and she did what she had always wanted to do, she ran her hand through his surprisingly soft hair, gripping the silky and smooth hair at the back of his head.

Soul had started leaning forward and his lips barely touched hers when reality came crashing down.

The realization of exactly _what_ she had been doing snapped her out of it and she catapulted herself away from him, fingers lingering on her upper lip.

She had almost kissed Soul.

What had she done?

Soul… he— he may be her friend, and she did find him damn too attractive for her own good, but he wasn't someone who she would end up with. He wasn't a gentleman and he wasn't into monogamy and— and— he was going to break her heart.

She had let her attraction break down her guard and look what it had taken her. She had almost had her heart broken.

"Maka?" Soul had asked with concern in his eyes. "I'm sorry if I—"

"I have to go." She hadn't given him any more time, she had gone away and returned to the party, simply to grab her things and returned home.

That summer Soul had tried to make contact with her when he was away. He had texted her asking what she was doing, given her updates on his grandma's health and Wes had said hi. She hadn't answered any of his text, not knowing how she was supposed to act now when they had almost kissed. She cared about him, but she didn't want to end up hurt, because she knew how it would end.

Even though how much she tried to forget him, avoid him and be his _friend_ , her traitorous body was still attracted toward him. Out of all people she couldn't get out of her head, it was Soul.

She had used desperate measures in an attempt at getting over Soul; by finding someone new she could crush on. The particular someone had turned to be her other friend Kid whom was the picture perfect gentleman. Incredibly kind, well put together, cared about his academic work and had great manners unlike Soul. Kid was the nice guy she wanted. The kind of guy who would treat her right and act like a gentleman.

So she had started to hang out more with Kid. Increased the number and length of their studying dates and Kid hadn't complained. He was simply happy having someone to study with. She and Kid had hung out more after school and during weekends with the Thompson sister while she stopped hanging out with Black*Star when she knew Soul would be around. As much as she tried to transfer the feelings she felt for Soul to Kid, she couldn't. Kid was the perfect guy. He was a gentleman. Why couldn't it be Kid?

Why wasn't it Kid she was stuck with? Why did it have to be Soul?

She shook her head, grabbing a hold of her pigtails and pushed them behind her shoulders.

"What's going on inside of that thick head of yours?"

"N-nothing." She waved it away and buried her face in her knees. "I-I was just thinking." She knew he would want to question further, knowing exactly _what_ she was thinking, but respectfully he accepted her answer and didn't push the matter further.

Silence spread in the hallway as they sat on the floor, for the first time since they arrived, they finally allowed themselves a moment to rest. During the festival she had been running around most of the day and it was starting to leave its mark. Her feet were growing sore and she knew if her feet weren't given a rest, she would end up with blisters—

"I'lL bAsH yOuR hEaD."

Maka gasped as she jumped up on her feet, head whipping to the side as she tried to pinpoint the source of the voice.

"You alright?" Soul asked, quizzically looking up at her from his seat on the floor.

He didn't hear it…?

"I- I thought…" she offered a weak smile and waved her hand as if she could brush the unsettling feeling off her when she knew she heard _something_. She slid down the wall sat back down on the floor.

"You know if something's bother you, you know you can talk to me," Soul said without a shred of judgement or trying to rope anything out of her. It was a simple statement without any conditions.

"I know," she sighed. "Just… five more minutes and then we continue."

"Okay."

…

Black*Star groaned as he cracked his eyes open, expecting to meet the morning sun lighting his whole room up because he forgot to pull the curtains… again. But today was a different day, the morning sun didn't assault his precious ninja eyes, for the first time in a long time, he had remembered to pull the curtains.

A pleased smile spread on his lips and he stretched his arms, rising up into a sitting position—

This wasn't his room.

He was on the ground in an aged corridor, seemingly having been left abandoned for decades. The walls were yellow and grey hue and the floorboards were trite. Parasites had nibbled on the wood and the nails were a rusty orange.

It hit him like a brick to the head.

He remembered being inside of the school. He had found the main entrance and— it had been raining bullets and— human remains were mixed with dirt from the uneven ground where mines were hiding underneath the surface. He— he had found… he could barely even think the thought. But he had found Maka's candle just outside.

As uncool has he had been, he had broken down. In fear that the human remains could be Maka, wanting for his friends to come forward from their hiding spots and reveal it had all been a prank. But they hadn't.

But he hadn't moved from that spot. He had cried out as he had fisted the material of his pants, but not a single sound of a person had been heard. He had been alone.

But how the hell had he ended up here?

"What the hell kind of voodoo fucking shit is this…?" Black*Star murmured as he supported himself on his knee, getting up on his feet—

The wood underneath his feet creaked and loudly cracked. He found himself falling and on instinct, he clutched to the wooden floor, feet dangling in the air. He cursed and grunted, heaving himself up and crawling out from the hole. The wood creaked, threatening to give in. He made himself as flat as possible as he slowly crawled away from the hole. The floor creaked threateningly as he slowly made it toward the wall, heading away from there.

For every creak the floor boards made his heart stopped in his chest and he froze on the spot.

When he was left dangling over the ledge, his feet didn't feel anything. Who knew how long of a fall it would be if the floor broke down. He had enough of falling through broken floors after the charm—

The charm.

Maka had presented the charm.

His heart hammered against his ribcage and panic set into his mind. His fingers curled and scratched the moist layer on the floor boards.

No. It couldn't be. Maka was interested in the occult and paranormal activity. She had a ton of creepy books he didn't even want to touch in her bedroom. It couldn't be— had the charm actually…?

Black*Star shook his head even his spiked hair drenched in gel and hairspray broke and whipped his cheeks.

There was no way. Could the charm actually have… was it because of the _charm_ he was here?

No way! That is stupid! She had presented with plenty of charms, stories and other voodoo shit that _NEVER_ worked and now this stupid charm that was not scary at all caused all of this. Pffft, what was he thinking?

As much as he tried to tell himself it wasn't a possibility, that the reason he found himself here wasn't because of Maka, the more it grew on him. He had already seen human remains. He had never seen a place like this before in Death City. He doubted his friends could manage to find an abandon place, fake a place like this and scare him like this, but NAAAAH!

It was all his imagination. Kid always did props with the theatre kids and he was pretty good at making body parts. Of course he would make the human remains while the others would set up the building. Liz knew all too well how to decorate a place scary even though she was a scaredy cat. Liz had done a good job setting up the classroom— and Maka had delegated assignments and duties to the others in the class. Of course they would manage to make this place up.

It was all because Maka was behind all of this.

Damn he knew putting that tarantula in in her locker and putting it in her hair was taking it a liiiittle bit too far, but he hadn't listen to Soul trying to talk him out of it. Now Maka was planning a huge prank on him.

And he had fallen for it! Fuck he had fell for it hard! And she wanted to milk every second of it, squeezing every drop of courage out of him until he was breaking down and begging for it to end, only then would his friends emerge.

But as he tried to talk himself into the reason that this was all a prank, there was still something that wasn't quite right.

The wood. The very wood he had buried his fingers in, it was soft. At least the first layer. The surface was moist and soft. It wasn't something that could be fixed within a day or week or however long they had planned this, and he knew every abandoned building in and around Death City.

It wasn't a thought he dared to entertain. This simply had to be a prank! It just had to!

But then again… what if it wasn't?

He crawled for a while, the floor slowly stopped creaking as he reached the end of the corridor to a staircase. He tested the floor and it wasn't as moist as before and when he banged his fist against the floor boards, they were strong enough. The floor mustn't be as wet and rotten as they were further into the corridor.

He got up on his feet and the staircase led to the upper level and a level down. He was determined to find an exit again. His friends would probably be waiting for him over there. He chose to go down the stairs and the floorboards creaked, but not loud enough to alarm him. He rounded the corner and at the bottom of the stairway, he found a body lying against the stairs with its head missing.

"WAAAH! WHAT THE FUCK?" Black*Star exclaimed and backpedalled into the wall, pressing his back against it as if he could slip through the material and disappear far away from the corpse.

The body— the steps were darker and smelled of copper and pee. No meat was present and only bones were left. On the second step laid the cranium.

Black*Star swallowed hard and his knees grew weak. A dizzy spell hit him and the corpse started to sway. He slid down the wall and closed his eyes.

He needed to calm down. It was just a corpse— no. _A prop_. This was one of Kid's props for his nerdy theatre club. Even though the bones look entirely different from the plastic skeletons the school had provided the theatre club with… _and_ completely different than the bones on Tv. They were more like the ones you could see at a museum where they showed off different bones and mummies. One of those kinds of museum Maka would _love_ to drag him to. But… of course it was fake. Kid had really improved painting props.

He took ten slow breaths, feeling how the air caressed his nostrils and expanded his chest, before he let go of the breath and exhaled. Soon he found his grounding and he opened his eyes. The prop was still there. On shaky legs he stood, up heading down the stairway. Once he got closer to the prop, he noticed the dried blood— fake blood covering the upper body of the corpse— prop. The prop wore a school uniform, but it wasn't one he could recognize. Black pants, green shirt, white blazer and a black tie. Even the school crest on the prop's bicep wasn't familiar.

He was about to fast pass by the creepy prop but he hastily backpedalled when something caught his attention. It was a metal wire going across the wall to the railing, just in the right height to cut someone's neck off. If it wasn't for the fake blood dried onto the metal wire, he would've missed it and then—

He couldn't think about it. He dodged under it and he quickly hurried away from the prop.

"Man this blows," Black*Star whispered as he supported his hand against a wall. "When will they get tired of watching me and actually end this prank?"

How long would he be alone at this place…?

As if his prayers were answered, hurried footsteps resonated within the hallway and relief washed over him.

Finally. FINALLY his friends had enough of this—

He looked in the direction of the sound and a figure appeared at the far end of the corridor thanks to the light from the window. It wasn't any of his friends. The figure was tall, an adult for certain, but it wasn't someone he recognized.

"Thank God I managed to reach you in time!" The man ran up to him and stopped, panting heavily as he rested his hand against the wall. "Wow, I really am not in shape."

The man was tall and he wore some kind of religious shirt with a white collar, but also a small hat on his head. He didn't listen that much to what the teachers said, hence why a passing grade was a victory on his part, but if he remembered correctly, those two symbols came from two different religions? He didn't recognize the man. Heck, he was sure he hadn't seen the dude before. He sure didn't look like anyone from school, fuck, he didn't even look like he _should_ belong in a school. He couldn't put his finger on it, but looking at him gave him the impression he was around five years older than him.

"Who the hell are you?" Black*Star questioned.

"Me? I'm Justin Law."

Nope. Didn't ring a bell.

"Did Soul sign you up to do this shit?"

Justin raised his pale eyebrow and cocked his head questioningly. "What?"

"You know what I mean." Black*Star gestured to his surroundings with his arms. "This. This fucked up prank of his."

"Hold on, what prank?"

"Are you deaf? _THIS!_ This whole train wreck of a Halloween prank or whatever the fuck this kind of prank is."

Justin's mouth formed into a circle as his words finally sunk into his head (more like he had to bash it into his skull). "Woooooow, dude, you're new here, aren't you?"

New? What the fuck was he talking about?

"New?" Black*Star hissed, grabbing a hold of his black shirt and jerked the guy toward him, waving his fist around as spat flew from his mouth. "Do you want your teeth removed? Stop messing around! I know that fucking backstabbing son of a bitch of a bro set you up for this—"

"This is _NOT_ a prank!" Justin screamed as he pressed his forearm against Black*Star's throat, heaving him away from him. "This is all real. The ghosts, the corpses, Giriko, they are all real."

Black*Star's eyes fluttered like crazy as he tried to comprehend what he had said. Ghosts? Giriko? Who the fuck was Giriko? The only word that struck a chord with him was corpses. He thought they looked real, but they couldn't be— killing people was _illegal_ and finding _two_ dead people in one place— it couldn't be!

This guy was fucking nuts.

Or rather, this guy was fucking good. Being able to say such blasphemy and still maintaining his posture, fuck that man deserved an Oscar.

So he laughed. He laughed hard. His laughter resonated in the dark corridor. He laughed till he ran out of breath. He inhaled deeply and he continued laughing. He slammed his hand on his knees and tears welled up in his eyes.

Justin didn't say a word. He stood in front of him and patiently waited until Black*Star had composed himself after what felt like minutes of laughing at the idiot of an actor.

"Look, look, I get it my boy had opened up his wallet for you, but duuuuuude, even you got to admit that script and story is _not_ believable." He didn't know what he had expected, but Justin didn't budge and it unnerved him.

"This is not the first time I've tried to explain to someone the complexity or the danger of this place and their defence mechanisms kicked in."

"Huh, I'm sure whatever the hell a 'defence mechanism' is, but my man," Black*Star snickered as he wrapped his arm around Justin's shoulders. "I don't want to be harsh on my homeboy, but I hope he paid you a lot for the worst script he gave y—"

"Look," Justin gritted as he brushed off Black*Star's arm. "I don't know how to spell it out to you. This is not a prank. This is all _very_ real."

"Pffft, it's not—"

"Fine, I'll try to spell it out to you."

Before Black*Star knew it, Justin grabbed the back of his head and fisted his hair, dragging him a few steps before he kicked him at the back of his knee. He came crumbling down and instead of his hands hitting the wooden floor, he grabbed something cold and soft. His head was shoved further down and he smelled the overwhelming scent of copper and faeces. He was left face to face with the corpse with the severed head. His eyes stared at the severed flesh at the neck, seeing the bone of the spine and the rotten coagulated flesh in the process of decomposing. His hands held onto the corpse's shoulder and waist, no whatsoever warmth was present underneath the thin fabric of the top.

Kid couldn't have done this. Standing away from the corpse, he could convince himself it was fake, but close up, feeling the cold squishy flesh, smelling the blood and the scent of _death_ coming from the corpse. This was real.

He was touching a dead person.

His stomach turned and he ripped his head from Justin's grip, turning away and puking. Hastily he crawled his way away from the corpse in panic as puke kept on streaming from his mouth. His hand slipped and he landed on his shoulder with a bang, emptying his stomach. He breathed heavily as his hands fisted as he lied on the floor.

This… all of this… it was— i-it was…

…

…

… Real.


	9. The Tongue

Chapter 9

_The Tongue_

Maka's head was pounding. Her senses were seemingly turned up. Her footsteps rung too loudly as she went down the corridor beside Soul. If it only had been the loud footsteps that caused the headache, she would consider herself happy. But there was something more. Ever since they got here, she hadn't felt… normal. At first she thought it was her imagination. Every once in a while, she thought she heard something, but quickly brushed it aside. Now she wasn't quite sure.

There was something in the air which made her skin crawl and her head to pulse painfully. She couldn't quite put her finger what it was, but at some moments, it felt like she went through a thick wall of carbon dioxide. She could barely breathe and her school uniform seemed to sit too tight on her body, giving of a sensation of heat and strangulation. The sensation wanted her to turn back around and find the perfect spot where she could breathe the cool air once again.

She didn't know what these sort of… densities in the air meant, but her instinct told her it was better to stay away from the denser and darker ones.

And the voices.

She hadn't wanted to think about it, but every time she was near a corpse, she got this strange feeling snaking up her body and whispering in her ear. It was a crazy and insane thought, but they had seen corpses and talked to a ghost, she shouldn't be surprised. But… was it possible she could _hear_ the dead?

Even truly acknowledging the thought made her want to tie herself in a strait jacket and medicate herself for auditory hallucinations. But… this wasn't how things usually ran. If this had happened outside in the real world, maybe she would've thought it was cool to be able to hear the dead and hear their grievances and all of that, but… what they said wasn't something she wanted to hear.

If she even gave the slightest of attention to the voices, she would hear how a voice cursed someone for going behind their back and killing them. Another one screamed in agony at the pain they would feel for all eternity. There was nothing enjoyable at all. None of which she could help to move on to the other side like she had seen in documentaries of mediums going to homes and helping the lingering spirit move on to the other side.

She didn't want to hear it.

She didn't want to hear it!

She inhaled sharply as she massaged her temple, leaning her hand against the wall when she took a step inside of what felt like a dense wall of air.

"You okay?" Soul asked through the static in her head.

"I- I…" her voice faltered and darkness swept over her and wrapped her in a dark blanket.

Soul had no clue what was going on. Suddenly Maka's hand slipped from the wall and her head flopped down as if all the energy left her body, but she remained standing.

He had a bad feeling about this.

"Maka?" He reached out toward her cautiously, not knowing what he expected to happen. He flinched when a completely unlike giggle escaped her lips. Had the situation made her sanity crack?

"It is simple," she let out a dry laugh. "You take the knife and you run it through their throat."

"What?" Soul's eyes fluttered at her and his breath was lost when her head snapped back up, her eyes staring off into nothingness.

"No, no please!" Maka pleaded and her hands fisted her pigtails. "No! No! No! No! No! No! Nooooo!" she let out a scream and she bolted right into him, he fell backwards and watched her hurry away.

He had a bad feeling about this. She was acting weird again just like she had in that classroom with the human remains on the blackboard. The remains she had said was Patty's… Could it really be she's hearing the dead in this place? She really did hear them and they… were they trying to take over her body or something.

He couldn't lose sight of her!

He got up on his feet and ran after her. Maka breathed heavily as she in disarray wobbled around.

"NO! No one believes you! Get the hell away from me!"

"Maka snap out of it!" Soul called. He grabbed her wrist. "You got to fight back! Damn it, fight back!"

She whirled around. "I won't let you touch my child!" she sneered and ripped her hand from his, wobbling forward. "Not my arm… Not my arm! Auuuuuuuuuuuuugh." Saliva ran from the corner of her mouth and her tongue hung out as she stumbled forward.

"Don't let it take over—" his eyes bulged out when Maka let out a loud cry and she fell down on her knees, gripping her hair and screaming at the top of her lung.

She had really lost it.

"TSUGUMI!" Maka roared and her fist slammed down into the wood.

"Stop it!" Soul yelled and dived behind her as her fist repeatedly slammed against the wooden floor board. He tried to hold her arm, pull her away, but she was fixated on the spot as if she weighted a hundred ton. Her knuckles split and blood stained the floor. He placed the palm against the wooden floor, but not even his flesh could stop her. She pounded against his palm and he hissed in her ear for every pound. The wooden floor board cracked and broke, and to his surprise, Maka stopped. She went slack and collapsed against his chest. Soul's grip on her tightened as her head rested against his shoulder, eyes closed and her face peaceful as if a moment ago she wasn't screaming like a maniac.

Poor Maka. It was really taking a toll on her. Her nerves must be shot by now. If only he could find a safe place for them to rest up at.

He was about to lift her up when she groaned and her eyes fluttered open. His throat went dry when her emerald green eyes tiredly stared at him. Those pretty green eyes of hers the colour of green apples and freshly cut grass.

"Hey…" he spoke.

At first she quizzically looked at him before her cheeks heated up and her eyes widened.

"What are you doing?!" Her palm met his cheek and she pushed herself out of his embrace.

"What do you think I was doing?! You passed out and you should be glad I caught you before you hit your head!" he sneered back.

Her head snapped toward the hole in the floor where her hand had touched the edge of it. She grew silent.

"… did I act weird again?"

Soul nodded.

"What did I do?"

"You said some weird stuff, you went here and you started hitting the floor," Soul explained and he gestured toward the hole in the floor. "Then you passed out. Don't you remember?"

Her eyes locked on the blue mark starting to bruise the back of his hand. "Did I do that to you?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about me. I'm more concerned about you."

Maka grew quiet. She crossed her arms over her chest and she rubbed her biceps. "I…" she sighed. "Don't get mad at me. Okay?"

"Okay?"

"It's just… I'm _not_ crazy, but every once in a while I'll _hear_ things. Not just any sounds. It's like someone is _talking_ to me and I… I think… no, I _know_ I'm hearing the voices of the people who died here."

He didn't know what he was supposed to feel. He had thought the same as her. Knew something was up with her and he had suspected she could hear the dead. Now they both knew. She could hear the deads' thoughts. They could _communicate_ with her in some paranormal way.

He let out a smile of relief. "I already knew."

"How did you know?!" she exclaimed. "And why are you acting so cool about it?!"

"One, I've seen you answering stuff as if you heard something, and two, I've seen you in your state of possession or whatever that was."

"Possession?" Maka shook her fiercely. "No, I don't think so. If I was being possessed, I would feel the ghost being in my body and trying to take over it."

"And you don't now?"

"No! It's just… when we're walking around, I can sense something in the air and then I can hear voices and…"

"What did you feel when you were out?"

Maka's eyebrows knitted together and she rested her index finger against her chin. "I… it was this overwhelming sensation of density and voices and… I don't really remember anything but… I know I heard a lot of voices, but I couldn't decipher them. It's just… I don't know how to explain it. I wasn't in control."

"It sounds like a possession to me."

"But it's not. I've read about it on Tezca Tlipoca's blog!"

"And what you find on the internet is _so_ reliable."

"Like _you_ can come up with a better explanation? At least mine has research to back it up." Maka sneered. "I wasn't possessed and that's that!"

Soul grew quiet. Maka did have ten times more knowledge than him in the occult. The little he knew was from ghost stories and facts Maka told and from horror movies. But he couldn't help but still be concerned. This place was rough and from all the corpses and the threat of death looming over them, he worried this place was getting the better of her. Maybe… just maybe the situation had opened up her mind and made her more vulnerable for possessions or… whatever. The facts were: they were in a creepy ass place, and Maka was having unsettling periods of when she was out of control.

"I hear you, but look, those episodes aren't good and you got to tell me when they're starting to crawl onto you. Right now, all we have is each other and we need to have each other's backs."

Maka went silent. Her breath stilled as she looked at him. She didn't comment and his heart clenched in hurt. He was aware of the fact she would rather be stuck in this place with anyone else than him. To him, he had been blessed he was stuck in hell with her, but he believed she would rather be alone than be anywhere near him. After all, ever since the summer break, she had done everything in her power to stay away from him. Snatched whoever was in the corridor and struck up a conversation just so she wouldn't have to say a word to him. The few times they had talked were always in a group setting and even then Maka spared him only a moment and gave a short answer.

He had messed up and now she hated him.

She was disgusted with him.

And… quite frankly, he didn't know how to handle the negative emotions she felt toward him. To him she meant so much, but to her he might as well be her archenemy. Or worse. Indifferent to him.

Maka's gaze moved from the side to her palm gripping the edge of the floorboard. "Say… what _did_ I do?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I was out. Did I do this hole?"

"Um, yeah, you did. You wobbled around and then you started beating at the wood." He nodded toward her bruised knuckles. "That's why you're hurt. You kept on beating at the board and you didn't stop until it broke, then you passed out."

She had listened carefully while her eyes stayed glued on the hole in the floorboard.

"What about it?" Soul asked.

"It's just…" Maka shivered and she pulled her hand away from the edge of the hole. "I can feel something. It's… I can't really tell what it is, but it gives me a bad feeling."

"Does it only come from the hole?"

Maka nodded.

"What do you make of it?"

"The only reason I can tell is… before I passed out I felt a density of energy and… maybe it affected my mind and it brought me here. To the source." Maka explained at the same time she tried to figure the situation out.

"If that's the source behind your black outs, we probably should leave as soon as possible or destroy it."

Maka shook her head. "No. Destroying a vessel with this much bad energy could only make it worse. If we destroy it, it could spread and do a whole lot more damage. It's better to leave it untouched. But at the same time…" slowly hear hand reached toward the hole, hovering over the blackness. "… it's like, I _need_ to find out what it is."

Soul grabbed a hold of her wrist. "Leave it."

Her eyes fluttered to the purple bruise on the back of his hand. "That bruise wasn't there."

"Oh, yeah, I tried to stop you from hurting your hand further, but you didn't stop." He covered the bruise with his other hand. "Don't worry about me. It's just a bruise."

"Does it hurt?"

"Just a little sore, but nothing major." He nodded toward her knuckles. "How about you?"

"I'm alright. It doesn't hurt that much."

"But it hurts?" he persisted.

"It just pulses with pain. It will stop as soon as the wounds stop bleeding."

"It needs to be cleaned. This place is full with bacteria and you could catch something nasty."

"It's okay. I'll be alright." Maka pulled her wrist from his grasp.

Gently he shook his head. "Maybe now, but it needs to be cleaned. Maybe if we found the nurse's office we could find something to clean your wounds with."

He was about to stand on his feet when Maka grabbed a hold of his pant leg.

"Who's there?" she asked.

Soul crooked his eyebrow at her and directed his gaze in the direction she looked at. His alarm system went off when he saw a silhouette in the distance of the corridor. His instincts kicked in and he moved in front of Maka, good or bad, he would protect her. The silhouette grew and shaped into a woman in all black with long black hair in a nice and proper updo with two loose pieces of hair framing her face. He inhaled sharply when he noticed the blank dead eyes and the faint glow surrounding her.

She was dead.

"Maka run—"

"Lady Arachne…" Maka breathed, peering over Soul's shoulder. "That is you! I recognize you from the drawings!"

The woman came to a stop in front of them, five meters separating them. She cocked her perfectly groomed eyebrow. "You know my name."

"Yes of course! I've read your blog! I love your story about the teacher falling down the stairs! I'm a huge fan of you."

"Work? What work?"

"Your blog— the Sachiko Ever After charm!"

The dead woman Maka had called Lady Arachne giggled, pulling out her feather fan and half covered her face in a manner Soul could only label as seductively. "I see you were also fooled."

"Fooled?" Soul questioned.

"By this "blog" you all call. I never wrote a story or about a charm."

Soul looked over his shoulder and saw Maka gaping wide, eyes the size of saucers as she tried to comprehend the situation. "What do you mean? You own your own bar— you had your blog and— you _disappeared_."

"You know quite a lot about me, but not everything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maka asked.

"It means some of it is correct, but not all."

"Which part isn't?" Soul said.

"That is for you to find out." Lady Arachne gently fanned herself. "I am quite impressed with your ability. Not many who come here has the same sense like you."

"Me?" Maka pointed to herself as she rose on her feet. "Do you mean the energies I'm sensing?"

"If that is what you like to call it, but there is something more to it than that."

"What is it? Is she being possessed?" Soul was quick to ask when the chance was given to him.

"No, she isn't possessed. In fact, she is a tough cookie to break."

Relief washed over him when that worry was denied. He wasn't well versed in the occult. He certainly didn't know how to perform an exorcism or take care of evil spirits taking over human bodies. She was healthy and of sound mind. Well, not as bad as he had feared it was.

"You are the few people who had stumbled upon the source of this place."

He started thinking Lady Arachne was simply playing with them. Giving them a piece of the puzzle and then they realized they were missing three more bits of the puzzle. It was headache-inducing having to try to figure out her words as if they were a riddle. How were they supposed to find their friends and a way out of this closed space with their lives still intact? All he could do was to try to lurk as much pieces of information as he could from her. Lady Arachne certainly knew more than they did about this place.

"What source?" he asked.

"The treasure the girl found."

The floorboard behind him creaked and he looked over his shoulder. Maka's hand had dived into the hole and she pulled out a small bag with a stain of dried blood on it.

"Tsugumi…" Maka murmured.

It was the same word she had screamed out when she was in her crazed state.

Maka opened the bag and she yelped loudly, tossing the bag away in fear.

"What is it?" Soul reached toward Maka, but stopped when she crawled backwards, away from the bag.

"A-a tongue!" she gasped.

Soul's gaze snapped back toward Lady Arachne in her black floor-length dress. "What are you talking about?! What kind of sick games are you playing? A tongue as a source?"

Lady Arachne let out an amused laughter as she gently angled her fan intriguingly. "So ignorant."

"What piece does the tongue play?" Maka asked hurriedly, breathing heavily. "And why do I think of the word Tsugumi when I see it?"

She folded her fan in her hand, gently tapping it. "You are a clever girl, simply one clue and you will have it figured out." Lady Arachne tilted her head and her eyes moved as if she was listening to something, but he heard absolutely nothing. "I am quite intrigued of you little girl, so I'm going to give you some advice on how to survive here at Gallows Elementary School. Keep your paper scraps from the charm close on you, do _not_ lose them." Arachne was about to turn around when Soul stopped her.

"Wait." Soul rose on his feet. "How are we supposed to find our friends? And how will we get out of here?"

Lady Arachne looked over her shoulder, black lipstick turning into a small smirk. "In order to receive, first you have to give." She went in the same direction she came from.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Soul barked. She didn't stop walking. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" he cursed under his breath when she kept on walking and she disappeared in the darkness.

"What does all of this mean?" Maka whispered into the air. "Gallows Elementary School? Lady Arachne's only post was about it. The teacher who died falling down the stairs… she also wrote about the Sachiko Ever After charm. The only two posts on the blog were that. I don't know how all of this is connected." She lifted her head and she met Soul's gaze. "In order to receive, first you have to give …?"

"What are you thinking?" Soul asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I don't know right now." She stood up and she brushed her skirt off dirt. "But we need to remember her words carefully and do as she says. Do you still have your paper scrap?"

He pulled out his student ID from his leather jacket. On the folder was a sticker with the word "EAT" on it. He opened it where his student ID was and right behind it, he pulled out the piece of paper.

"It's right here."

"Good. Don't lose it." Maka pulled up her own student ID and she exhaled in relief when she pulled out the scrap of paper. "We both have them. Let's make sure we won't lose them."

"Got it."

They put their IDs in their pockets and he was more than ready to leave when Maka headed toward the bag she had retrieved from the hole in the floorboards.

"Woah, woah, woah, you aren't serious about taking that with you?"

"Does it look like we have a choice? Lady Arachne said it was special and the source. This bag is important to this place. We need to figure out what we're supposed to do with it."

"But did you forget what you felt? That thing isn't good. If the bag is the reason for you to go crazy, we should leave it behind."

"It does give me a bad feeling, but we have to push it aside and carry it anyway. It's incredibly important and… we need to figure out what this tongue has in common with Tsugumi."

"Fine." Soul went toward her and he held his hand out. "Let me carry it. Maybe it won't affect you if you aren't the one carrying it."

"Yes, but Soul, this has bad energy. Do you think you can handle it?"

"I won't know if I don't try. Besides, I can't have you carrying the burden all alone."

"Okay, fine. You can carry it for now." She placed the bag in his hand and he tried to ignore the dried, cold flesh within the bag. Before his mind could linger on just what was inside of the bag, he put it in his pocket where his student ID wasn't. He didn't want to mix the bag with the paper scrap. He had no clue what bad energy the bag had, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

"We should go and find the nurse's office and get your hand taken care of."

Maka glanced at her hand. They did look a little bit better. The bleeding had stopped, but he wasn't going to take any chances. "I'm fine. We should continue searching for something useful."

"We can search on our way there. We better take care of your hand."

"And yours too."

He didn't object even though his was simply a bruise. "Right."

They headed away from the mysterious hole in the ground. They headed down corridors in search for the nurse's office. Soul couldn't recall seeing any door or any sign of the nurse's office. They had pretty much search through the whole ground floor and the second level. They had to search somewhere else. They found a stairway and they headed up another level.

Soul came to a stop and he looked over his shoulder, finding Maka supporting herself against a wall at the end of the stairway. Just like before, the blackout must've taken a toll on her. This place was hacking at her stamina and energy. They really needed to find a place where they could rest safely so Maka could recharge herself. The way she looked now, she wouldn't be able to keep on walking much further. He backpedalled and came to a stop.

"Are you tired?"

She waved it away immediately. "I'll manage."

She was exhausted and yet she tried to keep up. Without another word, he turned around and kneeled. "Get on."

"What? No! I can walk by myself."

"Of course you can, but I would rather carry you to the nurse's office than having you pass out on me and having to deal with that." Encouragingly he flexed with his hands, gesturing for her to climb on him. "Now come on. Don't be difficult."

She paused, but a moment later he felt her arms wrap around his neck and he found the back of her thigh. When he made sure he had a good grip on her, he stood up and started walking.

Maka was tiny. She was shorter than most girls and she was thin almost to the point he thought she was nothing more than skin and bones. How wrong he had been. He had eaten his words at their first P.E class once her uniform came off. Her legs were thin, but under her skin hid toned muscles which could run both fast and long. Her arms were trimmed to perfection and she was _strong_. She was certainly not a bag of feathers, she looked lighter than cotton, but she was _heavy_. All those muscles really did have an impact on the scale.

Simply having his hands on her thighs he felt her strong muscles which won her gold medals in track. She certainly was a sight for sore eyes. He remembered the first time he was invited to watch her compete in track and he was amazed. Of course he knew she had a temper and she was fast, but watching her compete sparked something within her. She was stubborn, pushed herself to run even faster and she didn't settle for anything than her best. He couldn't help but to watch her in awe as she crossed the finish-line, earning herself another gold medal.

Maka was simply amazing.

She was the star on the track team, the student representative, honour student and she was loved and adored by both teachers and other students in various grades. Everybody knew the name Maka Albarn. There wasn't anything she couldn't do. He admired her. Inspite of her troubling home life, her parents divorced and her mother out of the picture and a father who bounced between overly protective and fatherly to absent and busy seducing other women. Maka had taken what she had and made the best of the situation.

His home life wasn't without complications. Coming from a wealthy family where he was mostly looked upon as a project than a human being. His life was shaped from their desires, not his. He was forced to play the piano, drowned in snobby rich kids in private school and learned to never step out of line or there would be consequences. His life with his parents, he felt as if he was drowning, as if he was a robot under their command. The day when Soul decided to disown his parents was the best day of his life. He grabbed his things he could fit in a suitcase, grabbed some cash and left a letter behind, and he took the first plane to Death City to live with his brother. It was the best decision he had ever made and he didn't regret it. To his surprise, he didn't even miss his parents. He was enchanted with the freedom he had come across and he loved it.

It was a struggle, but he would take having a part-time job, failing in school and acknowledging the fact he wouldn't amount to something great, than living a life he didn't want. He was happy working for minimum wage at the supermarket. He was doing something _he_ chose to do. He wasn't good in school and he knew he would have trouble getting into college, not that he could afford it to begin with, but he was a lot happier in public school with his friends than he ever was at private school. They didn't look at him and judged him from his last name. They didn't hang out with him because of the power and status his family had. They hung out with him because they genuinely liked _him_. Black*Star… he was an idiot and sometimes he wondered why he was going along with his shenanigans, but he awoke something within him. A feeling he hadn't had before and he liked being his friend.

Not to forget it was Black*Star who introduced him to Maka.

"There it is," Soul said and nodded toward the door with the sign 'Nurse's Office'. He didn't receive a reply and he carefully looked over his shoulder at her face. Her eyes were closed and she snored peacefully against his neck.

He smiled as he went to the nurse's office and he cautiously opened the door so he wouldn't wake Maka up. He entered the room and to his relief, there were two beds behind a cloth screen. As carefully as he could not to wake up Maka, he unloaded her on the free bed. He let out a heavy breath when he found her still asleep on the bed.

He started exploring the nurse's office. On the desk was a journal the nurse have written in since it contained nothing else than medical notes he didn't really understand. He searched through the drawers and there were nothing of interest. In fact, as soon as he opened the bottom drawer and was met with _a lot_ of long dark hair strands, he slammed it shut. One of the cabinets was filled with hair to the brink and he didn't dare to open it. He went over to the other cabinet and he smiled wide when he noticed there was indeed _something_ in the cabinet, but it wouldn't open.

He borrowed Maka's bag and lit a candle, placing it on the desk and he took the wire cutter. Using the handle of it, he smashed the glass and he grabbed the candle, holding it toward the cabinet.

"W-what are you doing?"

Maka was wide awake and hands up in alarm. Damn. He had woken her up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

In the cabinet was a bottle, a pair of scissor, a stethoscope and bandage. He took the bottle and on the old label it said 'rubbing alcohol'. Exactly what he needed. He placed the candle on the edge of the desk near the two hospital beds and he grabbed the bandage and the wire cutter back to Maka.

"What did you find?"

"Some rubbing alcohol and bandages." He returned the wire cutter in her bag and he unscrewed the bottle. "Now give me your hands."

"Wait." She sought through her bag and she pulled up a pack of tissues. She handed one to Soul and he soaked it in the rubbing alcohol. He held her one hand and as gently as he could, he dabbed the tissue on her wounds. She winced and he tried his best to make it fast. As soon as he had finished cleaning her wounds, he was about to wrap the bandage over her knuckles, but she pulled her hands away.

"I don't need a bandage. I'll be fine now when they're clean."

As much as he wanted to bandage her up and make sure no dirt would get in her wounds, he let it pass. He knew all too well when she had decided, there was almost nothing that could change her mind. He simply let it slide.

"How are you holding up?" Maka asked as she screwed the lid back on the rubbing alcohol and placed it and the roll of bandage in her messenger bag. It could come to use later, but he hoped not.

He shrugged his shoulders. "'s cool."

"And your anxiety isn't acting up?"

He grew quiet. He had no clue how long they had been in here, but he was sure it was long past due on his medication. He was aware of the fact he was supposed to have it on him, but it had always been easier to keep it in his bag in his locker. And… fuck. He needed his medication. He was already feeling how the anxiety was brewing underneath his skin and he knew in this situation they found themselves in and going unmedicated, it wasn't a good combination. Soon it would get the better of him and… he couldn't afford having an anxiety attack.

"A little," he confessed.

Her hand dived into her bag and in a pocket he hadn't noticed, she pulled out a small ziplock with four pills in it.

"Is that…?"

"Your medication." She finished as she handed him the bag.

"How do you have them?" he asked in awe as he accepted the bag.

"Black*Star. He knew you often forget your meds in your locker and since he couldn't walk around with them on him, he gave some to me to keep if you ever needed them."

He gapped at her. "You know you could get in real trouble if someone found this on you? These are prescription pills."

Maka shrugged her shoulders. "Like the teachers would ever go through my things."

"Still, if you were caught, you could've been suspended."

"But I haven't and I've gone around with them for over a year."

He was left gaping at her, but he chose not to answer. He took a pill from the bag and swallowed it. He thanked her and returned the bag to her and she put it back in her messenger bag.

His heart speeded up in his chest at the small gesture toward him. He didn't know Maka had his medication and she put herself on the line of getting caught simply to have his meds on her if he needed them. He… never did he think she would think of him like that.

To him it was simple. His thoughts were on her and only her. There was no other than her on his mind. When he transferred to Shibusen High and started his sophomore year, he was immediately taken back by her. She was a beauty for sore eyes and she was incredibly kind and inspiring. She was an incredible girl. He found himself thinking of her and in class, he enjoyed observing her taking notes and raising her hand to answer the teacher's questions. He had wished to talk to her. Get to know her and become her friend, but he hadn't a clue how he could do that. She… she seemed so far away from him. So untouchable. But once Black*Star approached him and they became fast friends, he was introduced to her.

It had been the nail to his coffin. Being in her presence and talking to her made him fall for her.

He was crushing hard on her. He liked being in her company and he couldn't get enough of her. Every time he looked at her his knees grew weak and his heart pounded in his chest to the point it threatened to break ribs. She… she was the reason he enjoyed his new school as much as he did. It was because of her he wanted to grow and prove himself worthy. He still wasn't worthy of her friendship, but he would do his best to earn it.

He remembered the first time he was left all alone with her. It was on his off nights from his part-time job and he decided to enjoy himself playing on Black*Star's xbox he had borrowed from him since he knew Black*Star would soon take it back. There had been a knock on his front door and he had questioned why Wes would knock. They lived together after all and Black*Star was on his martial art practice. When he opened the door, he was surprised. A happy surprise when he found Maka standing on the other side of the door.

"Hi…" was all he had managed to say in his state of shock.

"Hello, Black*Star gave me your address. I'm here to pick up his xbox." He had stood there like an idiot while she had stood outside and the rain had poured down. "Can I come in?"

He hadn't managed to say a single word. He had simply opened the door wider and she had entered his apartment. Suddenly he had been aware of the state of his apartment. Unmade bed, his underwear on the floor by his bed and dirty dishes in the sink. If he knew she would come over, he would've made sure it was cleaned.

"Um, do you want a soda or anything?" he had lamely offered.

"No thank you. I need to head home and study so…"

"Oh… um, okay."

He remembered he had been willing to do anything not to spoil this perfect opportunity he had with her. It was the first time they were alone and he didn't want it to be a quick handback of Black*Star's xbox and then she would be off. He had wanted to take this chance and capture the moment. Getting to know her even more when both of them were all alone.

"So… what're you studying?" he drily asked to keep the conversation going.

"Um, for the math quiz we have tomorrow?"

He had completely forgotten all about it.

He'd freaked out. Not because of the quiz, but because he had looked completely stupid and irresponsible and Maka was responsible and she cared about her studies. He was burned out and exhausted from going to school, having a social life and working part-time, doing his homework was _hard_ , but he needed it done to… he didn't know, so Maka could notice him.

"Do you know the material?"

"Of course I do! I'll just skim through the material."

Shit. He had been screwed.

But to his luck, he had gained an idea.

"Uh… do you tutor?"

She had raised her eyebrow at him questioningly. "I didn't know you cared about your grade?"

"I do, it's just hard."

She had gone silent as she had questioningly stared at him. Rightfully so. At that time he had run around with Black*Star, filling lockers with water balloons and putting 'kick me' notes on people's backs, not to forget the part where he got detention. His track record for caring about his studies didn't really show.

"How come you don't study with Black*Star and Kid then?"

"When they're studying, I'm busy working at the supermarket."

Her mouth had shaped into an O as she gazed at him. "I didn't know."

He had waved it away. "Yeah, not many people know and I guess people just think I don't care about studies." Simply looking at her expression, he knew she was one of them.

"I tell you what," she had crossed her arms over her chest. "If you beat me in that game, I'll tutor you."

"Deal."

They had taken their seats on the floor, leaning their backs against his bed as he had started a new campaign in the zombie shooting game. Quite frankly he wasn't sure if he could beat her. When he lived with his parents, he hadn't been introduced to games so he wasn't used playing them. It wasn't until recently when Black*Star had brought it up he started gaming with him.

Soul had tried his darn best to gain a higher zombie killer count than her, but she always had around thirty kills more than him. He had insisted on more rounds and to give him more chances, but she was too good, maybe even better than Black*Star. He had been chanceless. He hadn't been a match to her. They played and Maka had given him tips on how to grow better, but even then he hadn't a chance.

They played for hours, a meeting that was only supposed to last for ten minutes, and he had enjoyed her company. His heart swelled for her and he couldn't stop looking at her. After that day she was more comfortable talking to him one on one. She had given him tutoring lessons in math and he had been grateful. She had become a part of his and Black*Star's gaming nights and together they had played the zombie killing game together.

He cared about her a lot. And he thought… he really did think she had cared about him. At least a little. Sometimes he would catch her eye and she would avert her gaze and her cheeks would heat up. When he read her, he truly thought perhaps she had felt more for him than she said. He had decided, when their junior year ended and he would go to NYC to spend some time with his grandma, the only family he had left except for Wes, he had decided he would make his feelings known. He was going to confess to her.

He didn't know really what went wrong. They had hung out around the bonfire and the moment in the forest, she had almost kissed him. She had participated in it and a moment before their lips would meet in a kiss, she bolted. He had felt ashamed. Had he read her that incorrectly and disrespected her? He had wanted to talk about what happened in the forest, tried to establish _any_ communication with her but she had ignored all of his texts and calls. It had been settled: he had been wrong.

It had been clearer after their summer break.

He returned and he was set on confronting her. She had avoided him as if he was the plague. He was the only person in their class she _didn't_ greet and welcome back from their summer vacation. It had stung. Worse than he thought it would. He had tried to get a moment alone with her during all of their breaks, but she clung onto their friends, _anybody_ really, just so she wouldn't have to talk to him.

It had then dawned on him.

He had gone inside of the library with the intentions of talking to her about what happened between them. With long strides he had gone with determination toward her usual table in the library. Her laughter had caught his attention. He had cautiously snuck up toward the table and peeked at it in between two shelves in a book case. He had caught sight of Kid and Maka seated close to each other. His heart had wrenched in his chest at the joyful smile and her playful touch on Kid's shoulder. His throat knotted and his heart ached within his chest.

Now he understood.

That day in the forest, she had run away because the feelings he thought she harboured for him, it was in fact directed toward Kid. She hadn't liked him ever in that way. Of course Maka had never liked him. He was… not Kid. While Kid he was everything he wished he was. He had good grades, dressed nicely, well-spoken and well… just _good_. Kid was everything Soul had left behind, how he didn't want to be. And Maka wanted a gentleman. Someone who was just like her. Kid was the perfect option. It was no wonder why she had always been reluctant to hanging around him. He was… a delinquent and she didn't want to be associated with someone like him. She was just like the other kids at his old private school. Only hanging out with people from the same socioeconomic situation and other well-breed youths. He hated how the one girl he came to crush on was the same kind of girls he _avoided_ at private school. He hated how his past came to haunt him and bite him in the ass.

In his daze as he watched Kid and Maka, Black*Star had found him and placed his hand on his shoulder, steering him away from them. They had quietly left the library before the librarian would start lecturing them for whatever.

"She likes Kid," Soul had finally spoken, leaning against the wall in the boy's restroom with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I seriously doubt that."

"You saw how she was hanging out with him. She couldn't keep her hands off of him and she certainly didn't stop smiling." He had sighed heavily as he had massaged the bridge of his nose. "I don't even know why I thought she might be into me. She clearly isn't."

"You know what she has been through. Her father has messed the shit up in her head when it comes to love." Black*Star had explained from his seat beside the sinks, resting his back against the wall as he played with his permanent market. "She's just confused."

Soul had snorted loudly. "Confused? She didn't look confused."

"Of coursed she isn't confused with Kid. She's confused about _you_."

"The only feeling she has toward me is distaste."

Black*Star had let out a short bark. "Distaste? Nah bro, if she disliked you she would let you know, not run away from you or avoid you. She's dealing with something within her and she needs to get it resolved before she can be around you."

"Can't you just cut the shit out? She likes Kid and that's that." He had thought he had effectively ended the subject forever, but Black*Star simply wouldn't have it.

"Dude, I know her. I've grown up with her. She's practically my sister from a different mister. Believe me, I know how she acts around people she likes." Black*Star had let out a short dry laugh. "I don't even think she knows she likes you. She's most likely just bothered by what she feels toward you."

Soul didn't need to hear this. It would only give him hope when what he needed was an end to all of this. Only then would he stop pining after her. Only then would he stop wanting her and he could move on.

"You're a good dude, you know. I've snuffed out people who had feelings for her and made them regret it, but you're cool. I know you're genuine with her and you're loyal. I know you aren't going to hurt her and that's why I'm supporting you in your pursuit of her."

"Please can't you just cut that shit out?" Soul sneered at him. "She doesn't like me. She hates me and I'm the last person she wants to see." Soul had run his hand through his hair. "I just can't take this. You giving me hope when it's in vain."

"Fine, if you're going to be a scaredy cat and hide from your own feelings, be that way." Black*Star had offered him the black marker. "You want to draw dicks on the mirrors?"

He hadn't been in the mood, but he had grabbed the marker from his hand and drew on the mirror, not feeling any better at all.

Since the day in the library, he had tried to sooth his broken heart, thinking he would get over her within a couple of weeks or so, but he hadn't. Every time he looked at her, he was reminded about her wonderful smile and her kind personality. How they used to play video games together and now… he missed her. He missed how they used to hang out and how she helped him in math, the only class he had gotten a decent grade in thanks to her help.

There was only one solution to his problem, he was going to put Maka in a situation she was forced to shatter his heart to a million pieces, only then could he let her go and move on. He was going to confess to her. He was going to make sure his feelings were known, and then put her in a situation she couldn't flee from him. She would have to give him an answer.

Maka's stomach growled loudly within the nurse's office and she held her hand above her stomach, trying to silencing the loud begging for food.

"You're hungry," Soul stated.

"Yeah. I wished I had some leftover food from the festival, but I left it in my locker."

But Soul had.

He retrieved the two chocolate bars from his pocket, shielding the message he had written on one of the bars. With Black*Star's permanent marker, he had written down "I like you. Will you date me?" He had intended on cornering her during the Halloween festival giving her the bar and finally putting an end to it all, but she had run around like crazy. Even his attempts to catch her, she managed to slither away.

They were alone. Nothing could interrupt them now. He could give her the chocolate bar and… get it over with.

She peered at the bars in his hands and she tilted her hand. "Is that chocolate?"

But… as the situation was now, they were in a unique situation and they needed to stay together. He couldn't confess and then everything going down the drain and have her run away just like she did after they learned they were here because of the charm. He couldn't be selfish. He needed to push his feelings aside and do what was best for both of them. He had to keep on hiding his feelings.

And yet… he couldn't.

"Um, yeah." With a shaky hand, he held both bars toward her, holding it so the message was hidden on the other side of the bar. "Go ahead. Take one."

He was selfish, if he were to die here, he wanted her to know how he felt. He didn't want to die with that regret.

His eyes fluttered shut as she took one of the bars from his hand. His throat ran dry as he opened his eyes and looked at the bottom of his chocolate bar, there his message was written.

Disappointment rooted in his stomach and his heart tugged in his chest as he watched her peel the wrapping from the bar and bit into it hungrily.

Her eyes fluttered as she looked at him quizzically. "What?"

He offered a dry smile. "Nothing."

She nodded toward his bar. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah, just…" he shook his head. "Nothing."

She didn't ask any more questions. She hungrily devoured the bar and she slopped down on the bed, the springs squeaking loudly as she exhaled, pleased with herself now when she had gotten something to eat.

Soul carefully peeled his bar, trying his best not to damage the message on the wrapping. He munched on his bar in silence as Maka's eyes closed. "You know you can rest for a while. I can lock the door and stay on look out."

"Thank you."

He didn't know what he had expected, maybe some resistance, but she must've been more tired than he thought she was. After he had gone over to the door and locked it, when he returned Maka was snoring peacefully while he took his seat on the other bed. He finished his bar and he looked down at the message on the wrapper.

Maybe his feelings weren't meant to be known.

He should've thrown the wrapping in the trash, but instead he smoothed out the wrapping and carefully folded it so the ink wouldn't get damaged. His hand slid down in his pocket and left the wrapping there.


	10. Three Missing Children

Chapter 10

_Three Missing Children_

Tsubaki's steps resonated in the classroom as she kept on pacing back and forth. She rested her hand against her lips as she wore a quizzical look on her face. There was something that wasn't quite adding up. The principle, the teacher who fell down the stairs and now they found themselves in that very school. Something wasn't quite adding up.

The article on the table still said _incidents_. The only incident they know about is the terribly accident of the teacher falling down the stairs and breaking her neck. What else had taken place here? What had happened that the school had to close down and the principle to commit suicide.

Something was going on here. Something that was the reason things had turned this way. If they found out why the school had turned like this, they could figure out a way to reverse the process and free themselves from Gallows Elementary School. Tsubaki had no clue of where their search would take them, but she had to follow her gut and search for more information. It was the only lead they had and she had to investigate it.

Tsubaki glanced over toward the desk where Liz kneeled in front of, peeking over the surface of the desk. But she couldn't do much with Liz being paralyzed with fear. They would have to walk around in the corridors and they didn't know if they would run into the three ghost children or this mysterious chainsaw man Maka had warned them of. There were dangers around the corner and Tsubaki simply knew they didn't know all of the dangers this place had. Walking around the corridors with Liz was risky. Either she had to leave Liz behind and let her hide underneath the desk, or she could come with her. It was important for them to stick together and work together to survive, but she didn't know how far she could push Liz before she was completely broken down mentally. It had already put a strain on her sanity giving her hopes of the exit that turned out to be a death trap. Now with the note and the threats around the corners, she didn't know.

"How are you feeling?" Tsubaki asked as she came to a stop.

Liz raised her eyebrow. "Are you seriously asking me that question?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Yes."

She let out a frustrated sigh as she buried her face in her palms. "I don't even know. I-I just want to go home to my room and hug Patty and make popcorns with Kid and snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie."

Tsubaki went silent. "I want to go and look for more information about this place."

"Huh? Where will you even go?"

"To the place where information is held: the library."

"You honestly think we will just magically find the information we need at the library?" Liz asked condescendingly.

"We aren't making any progress by staying here and hoping for _something_ to happen."

"At least we're safe here."

"For how long? Eventually the ghosts will find us here if we don't move around. We will simply be sitting ducks."

"What if our friends come here and we are gone?"

"Then we will return once in a while to check if they are here." Tsubaki shrugged her shoulders. "You know, if you don't feel like you're up for it, you can wait here while I look for the library."

"And let you walk all alone and possibly run into those ghosts?" Liz madly shook her head as she on shaky legs stood up. "I-I'm coming with you."

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

Liz hesitated before she slowly nodded. "I-I'll manage. Somehow."

Tsubaki wanted to protest. Wanted to insist she would stay here and stay on watch if their friends arrived at the classroom, but it was her choice. She knew Liz was stubborn, almost as stubborn as Maka, and she wouldn't back down. Whatever Tsubaki might say, it wouldn't change her mind. If she wanted to come along, she simply had to oblige.

"Alright. Are you ready to head out?"

Liz let out a shaky breath and her hands balled into fists. "I am."

The two headed toward the exit of the classroom. The door handle shrieked as they pushed it down and the door loudly slid open. Tsubaki peeked outside into the corridor. It was just as dark, the only exception was the poorly lit ceiling lights. She sharpened her senses and she listened. Nothing unusual could be heard. Only the silence of the school. She stepped out of the corridor and Liz followed suit. They both headed down the corridor, not knowing where exactly they were heading, only going on a hunch.

This was Gallows Elementary School, and Maka had said Shibusen was in the same spot as Gallows, then some of the building's structure had to be left. In Shibusen High the library was on the second floor with the group rooms on either corridor of it. The library had to be somewhere close by if her hypothesis was correct. Tsubaki would occasionally look inside of a classroom to see out the window and try to orientate on which side they were on.

Liz suddenly turned around and looked over her shoulder. Tsubaki halted and she looked at her friend who seemed obviously baffled.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I just thought I heard…?" Liz shook her head, her hair whipping her shoulders. "It was probably nothing—"

"… Liz."

It was faint, but Tsubaki had heard whatever it was too.

"Patty," Liz whispered. "I didn't mishear. I really heard her voice!" Without missing a beat she raised her hands and she cupped them around her mouth as she yelled. "Patty! Patty where are you!"

Tsubaki didn't know which feeling hit her first. Relief they would find Patty or the panic from being too loud and attracting any dangers who were on the level. She quickly dived toward Liz and covered her mouth. Liz's voice was muffled and she ripped her hand away from her.

"Patty! I'm here! I'm coming for you!" she screamed as she took three quick steps.

Tsubaki was left without a choice, she quickly crossed the space between them and used both of her arms to cage her against her chest and cover her mouth. "Be quiet," she murmured into her ear. Liz grew quiet and she stopped trashing in her arms.

They paused, sharpening their hearing and focused on any sounds. Tsubaki didn't dare to breathe. Neither did Liz. They held their breaths and her pulse hammered in her ears. Seconds went by as they stood silent in the corridor.

No sound was made.

What felt like an eternity later, Tsubaki allowed herself to relax and she uncovered Liz's mouth.

"I think—"

Her voice was cut off when the sound of giggles resonated in the corridor. Her breath was lost when a laughter belonging to a girl, a girl's laughter they had heard before along with two other girls. And it was coming right toward them.

Tsubaki grabbed her hand and they tiptoed to the closest classroom. Relief washed over her when it slid open without any trouble. The door clicked silently shut.

The laughter of the three ghosts came closer. They weren't out of danger yet.

Tsubaki quickly scanned the classroom. Tables were tumbled over and chairs were scattered and at the end of the classroom was a closet. Tsubaki tugged Liz toward it and they tiptoed over it hurriedly.

The ghosts giggled and came closer and closer. Tsubaki opened the closet doors and pushed Liz inside of it. Just before she closed it, Liz threw a quizzical look, but she ignored it and silently closed it.

"He… he… he…" One of the girls laughed and on the window on the door, the strange blue glow appeared and the hair on Tsubaki's neck rose. Quickly she hurried over to the closest table and slid right behind it when the door handle was pushed down. Tsubaki's breath was lost and she covered her mouth with her hands, holding her breath. The glow from the three ghosts brightened the classroom and a shadow casted from the table.

The girl's gurgling resonated in the classroom and Tsubaki didn't dare to move a muscle. She couldn't breathe. She tried to stop her own pulse from beating too loudly, but it rapidly hammered in her chest. Her body quivered as the light grew brighter and the edges of the shadows grew sharper. The ghost was right behind the table. Just a few steps more and the girl would catch her.

The picture of the now dead girl being dragged against the floor before she was slammed against the ceiling appeared on her mind.

She…

She could end up dead.

For the first time since they arrived at Gallows Elementary School, she was deathly afraid.

She didn't want to die!

She wanted to scream and beg for mercy, but she remained quiet as the edges of the shadow grew sharper and sharper, only a second before she would be found.

She squeezed her eyes shut and she bit down on her lower lip.

Laughter echoed in the classroom— resonated from the corridor.

Kid. It was Kid's voice!

His laughter wasn't the same soft and kind laughter he usually made. This laughter… it unhinged her. It made her skin crawl and her hair to rise. His laughter was completely lost and he laughed as if he had completely lost his mind.

So he was close!

Her breath was lost when the light from the ghosts quickly diminished and the door to the classroom slammed shut. Once again the classroom was dark and the sounds of the ghosts gurgling were gone.

Sharply she exhaled and she cautiously looked over the desk and found nothing unusual was present. They were once again alone and safe.

For now.

"You can come out now," Tsubaki spoke as she stood up on her weak legs.

The closet door opened and Liz peaked out from a small crack. "Is it over?"

"They're gone." It was all she could say. This whole ordeal wouldn't be over until they found another way out of here.

Liz opened the closet door wide open and stepped out of it. "First Patty and now Kid… what is going on here?"

"I don't know, but they have to be close by." Tsubaki crossed her arms over her chest and she fisted the fabric she found. "I hope the ghosts don't find him."

"Kid is smart," was all Liz said. Neither of them dared to comment on the abnormal and unnerving laughter of his they had caught on.

Tsubaki exhaled and she shrugged her shoulders. "We should leave this classroom. We were lucky thanks to Kid, but we shouldn't stay here any longer than we have to. The library has to be close."

"Just… shouldn't we return to the 2-6 while we have the chance?"

"And wait around till they find us?" Tsubaki sighed and her eyes fluttered shut. "We are the safest if we keep on moving carefully and remain silence."

"What? So this is my fault?"

"N-no, not at all!" Tsubaki was quick to deny. "All I'm saying is rationally we should remain quiet."

"You are!" Liz raised her voice. "Just because I yelled— you're saying _I'm_ the reason they arrived." Despair washed over Liz's face as soon as she had finished her sentence. Her knees gave in and she sunk down to the floor, burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry… This place— this is starting to get to me."

She didn't blame her. They had never come this close to the ghosts. If it weren't for Kid, Tsubaki was surely done for it. She would've been caught and—she didn't want to think about it. If she did, she would crack just like Liz.

Tsubaki went over to her friend and she sunk down on her knees, grabbing her wrists. Encouragingly she tugged on her hands and Liz pulled them away from her face.

"We don't know if they came here because of your scream. It took a while before they appeared. We will never know if they heard you. All we know is: if we make loud noises, things could hear us from a larger range, right?"

Liz nodded.

"So let's be more careful, not because of you, but because it's rational to be quieter."

"You're right," Liz sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"It's already forgiven." Tsubaki released Liz's hands and she offered her hand. "Let's keep on moving."

Liz grabbed her hand and she pulled her up on her feet.

They resumed their search. Even more cautiously, they peeked around every corner and listened for any unusual sounds. They made their way through the corridors and to their relief, they found an old and yellowed sign with the directions of _Teachers' wing_ and _Library_. They continued down the corridor and surely, from the ceiling hung a crooked sign hanging from one chain that read _Library_.

Tsubaki pressed her ear against the door and no sound was made. She pressed down the door handle and the door slid open. They entered the library. Instantly Tsubaki was met with the scent of old books, a scent she knew Maka adored from all the moments she had opened new books and sniffed at the papers. She knew if Maka had found the library, this place would be the place she would feel the most at ease at.

Rows of bookcases were present and plenty of books were messily stacked in the bookcases with papers spilling from the bookcases and laid scattered on the floor. The wood underneath their soles creaked for every step they took as they headed deeper inside of the library.

"So…" Liz spoke. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Something related to Gallows Elementary School or the principle."

"Do you honestly think the library kept a record of the incidents here?"

Tsubaki shrugged her shoulders. "We don't know, but we have to try at least. It's not like we have anything else to go on."

It wouldn't be easy. This library was full of books. Where would they even begin? This wasn't like their library where they could simply go to a computer and search key words and then be directed to the right shelf. Now they had to go searching manually. Go through every book, every piece of paper and see if they could find _anything_ of use.

At the same time as this felt like an impossible task, she simply had the gut feeling they were doing _something_ of use. The article with the info of the principle was conveniently on the teacher's desk. Who said the info they needed wasn't conveniently placed for them to find. This was a strange place, but the answers were present. She could feel it in her gut.

They would find something.

She just knew it.

Tsubaki exhaled loudly and she propped her hands on her hips. "Okay, I'll take the right side of the aisle, you'll take the left."

Liz didn't object and they separated to start their search.

…

Kid giggled as his nails clawed his temples. Hair strands littered the floor and blood stained his fingers from the wounds his nails had inflicted.

The ticking and the movement from the large clock in front of him didn't sync up. Every time the second pointer moved, the sound was always late. _It was always late!_ It was always 0,5 second too late and he winced every time when he witnessed the atrocity in front of him. How dared the clock work incorrectly! Even for an abandoned place, the clock wasn't working correctly! The janitor had to fix it! It couldn't tick this incorrectly!

He breathed fast and heavily as his nails dug into his wounds, clawing at his cranium and blood ran down his fingers. He rocked back and forth on the spot. He couldn't take his eyes off the large glass clock in front of him. His eyes were transfixed on the abomination of a clock. Even how much he wanted to rip his eyes off the clock and focus on _anything_ other than the clock, _he couldn't!_

He was losing his mind and he knew it.

A short and dried laughter escaped his mouth, eyes wide and veins popping in his eyes.

"You… you fucking clock," he growled. He let out a giggle as he on unsteady legs rose up on his feet. "You… you good for nothing…" his voice was lost when he ran right into the clock's glass surface. The second pointer ticking and going passed to seven. His cheek was mushed against the glass as his tongue hung outside of his mouth, licking the glass window.

His eyes rolled back into his head as he let out a short cry. He pulled back his head and he slammed it against the window. His nose banged against the glass as he repeatedly slammed his face against the glass.

He felt nothing. No matter how many times he banged his head against the glass, smudging the glass with his blood from his broken nose, he felt nothing. Only the ticking from the clock existed. Only the clock's irregular ticking sounded in his head.

Nothing existed but the clock.

He couldn't focus on anything else.

His hands laid flat against the glass and his blood smudged his hands. His head was pulled back and flopped backwards, nose crooked and blood pouring down his mouth and chin.

The ticking… it was his existence.

A wide grin spread on his face, the corners of his mouth pulled up to his ears in a wide grin. A relieved chuckle left his mouth. He giggled in joy. He laughed loudly as he stumbled backwards, arms swaying as his laughter echoed in the clock tower. Only the rivalling sound of a chainsaw tried to drown the sound of his laughter when it went through wood.

…

"Here! Look at this!" Tsubaki exclaimed from her seat by a table with papers scattered in front of her.

Liz peaked around a corner of a bookcase and joined Tsubaki, sliding down in the seat beside her. She brushed hair behind her ear as she peeked at Tsubaki's findings. She crooked her eyebrow as she stared at the papers in front of her and the folder discarded to the side.

It was missing children reports. And _a lot_ of them. Pictures of children young enough to be elementary students decorated the papers with _'MISSING'_ written in large bold letters and at the bottom was the contact information to the police, encouraging anyone who knew anything to contact them.

It was… overwhelming. So many kids. Simply missing. It was… unnerving.

She flipped through the edge-damaged papers, going through the papers and it was… at least fifty of them.

"Look at this," Tsubaki retrieved a few of them and pointed toward the text above the picture. "The dates are dated before the closing of Gallows Elementary School."

"What does this mean…?" Liz murmured as she picked up a missing report. It was of a young girl with beautiful curly hair tied into low pigtails and freckles on her nose. In the information it read:

_"_ _Have anyone seen our darling daughter Katharina Clearwater? She never returned home when school ended on 21/9 1898. She wore the assigned school uniform and bag. She has a blue fluffy pompom on her bag. Please contact the police if you've any information."_

"This has to have a play in this. All of these missing children reports _must_ have played a part!"

Liz slowly nodded and she grabbed a new missing children report, and she was… the text was similar. The dates were exactly like Tsubaki had pointed out. They were all suspiciously close together and… it simply couldn't have been a coincidence.

"Let's arrange these in chronical order," Liz said.

They went through all of the missing children documents. They read through the information and arrange all of them in dates. A pattern started to form for every missing children report they managed to arrange. The disappearing of children took place in a four year span with the exception of one missing child that stood out from the crowd. It didn't follow the same layout as the others, it didn't even take place in Death City and it happened three years before the first missing child.

Liz stared at the toddler in the picture. It was a boy named Crona Makenshi. He was the youngest of all the children. He was the only one who wasn't in elementary school. He didn't even go to Gallows Elementary School.

It must've been a useless document for them.

"So… all the children seemed to disappear more in August, September, May and June and none disappeared during the summer," Tsubaki stated as she pointed toward the missing children who disappeared in those months.

"Not just that," Liz said. "All of these children disappeared either before or after school."

"No wonder this was tied to Gallows Elementary School." Tsubaki turned toward Liz. "This must be the reason. All of these missing children were students here and they disappeared on their way here or home." She let out an exhilarated short laughter. "Maka's story— the article— it both said the city questioned the school's safety and that's the reason it closed. _This_ is the foundation why the school closed! Because of these missing children and the teacher's death!"

Liz could barely believe it. When they had headed to the library, she didn't think they would find anything of use, but holy shit, they had!

But what had happened with the kids? These were simply fliers of missing kids, it didn't tell them anything if they were found or what happened to them. Kids in this quantity… _someone_ had to have been found.

Tsubaki rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. "Holy crap… even the dates makes sense. It's the time when school begins and ends during the year… no wonder no kids disappear during the summer, because the school was closed!"

"So someone in this school had to have kidnapped them?" Liz asked. "It only makes sense. These kids were students here and they disappeared when they were around the school grounds."

"It could be the principle." Tsubaki commented as she looked up from her hands. "The kidnapping ended when he committed suicide. The police could've been onto him and instead of being taken in, he could've chosen to take his own life."

"It's possible, but it could also be because the school closed down. It would be hard to kidnap kids if the school was closed and no kids were around."

Tsubaki sighed heavily and her face flopped down in her hands. "This is crazy… as soon as we find a lead, only more questions are raised." Her elbows slid against the table and accidentally knocked over a few missing reports. "So what will we do now?"

Liz rose from her seat and she wandered around the table. "We will continue to search. The kidnapper has to have been someone working here at the school."

Her hand flinched when she was about to pick up the paper of the missing child.

This child was familiar.

A girl with pigtails just like Maka's laughed back at her, standing by the curb in her school uniform. There was something about her… and it wasn't because of the similarity with Maka… but she was sure.

Wait.

Her hand started to tremble as she moved toward the girl's one eye and she covered it.

It was her.

One of the ghost girls. The one with the missing eye!

Why was she here among the missing children!?

"Tsubaki!" Liz exclaimed as she shot up on her feet. "This girl! She's one of the ghost children!"

"What? Give me that!" She snatched the paper and she quizzically stared at the girl. Her eyes widened with realization. "Holy crap! It's her!"

"Are the other two there?"

As if on a mad hunt, both of them hurriedly went through the missing children reports and to their surprise, they found the two other girls. The girl with the missing left eye was named Tsugumi Harudori. Anya Hepburn was the girl with the long blood soaked hair and abdomen ripped wide open and guts hanging out. The last ghost girl was harder to pinpoint since her head was severed just above her mouth. Tsugumi and Anya were one of the last children to disappear and around that same time, another girl disappeared. One who wore exactly the same clothes the missing child flier described. They weren't sure, but they thought the girl with the severed head was Meme Tatane. I had to be. All of them were the last children to disappear and they disappeared in the same week.

"Oh no…" Tsubaki whispered as she covered her mouth, staring at the three fliers of the girls in front of her. "Does this mean… all of these kids… they're dead?"

Liz's eyes fluttered shut. She and Patty had lived on the streets and she had witnessed what happened with children who were kidnapped, and the outcome was rarely good. She was already biased but… they were so young! All three of them were nine years old.

"Yeah, we can only assume so."

"Does this mean… are the other kids also here as blood-thirsty ghosts?"

"No they aren't."

Liz had been about to reject the horrifying thought that there could be _a lot_ more deadly spirits present, but a completely different voice answered her. Tsubaki and Liz jumped in surprise and whirled around to see a woman wearing all black with a fan in her hand in a matter Liz could only describe as seductively.

"Wh-who are you?" Liz stuttered.

The mysterious woman raised her hand gracefully. "Do not worry. I'm not like the others."

The woman had a faint glow around her, just like the ghosts', but this lady in front of them seemed… calmer. Not as blood-thirsty or deadly. She was dead. Her blank eyes and faint glow showed she was a part of this realm now, but something was different with her. For some reason, she wasn't threatened by her, might've been because of her inconvenient floor-length dress and the fine air of sophistication.

"Are you… have you died here?" Tsubaki asked cautiously.

"Died here?" the woman let out a non-humorous laughter. "No. I am not like the people charmed to this place and died."

"How?" Tsubaki pushed.

She gently fanned herself with her black feather fan. "You kids have a lot of questions."

"And you aren't giving us answers!" Liz's hands balled. "Please, help us. What can we do to escape from here?"

"Escape? No one who has arrived here has escaped. Everybody has met the same fate: death."

Liz's breath was lost. She sunk deeper into her chair as the last glimmer of hope ran out of her body.

Even the mysterious lady… even _she_ didn't know a way out.

"May I ask your name?" Tsubaki courteously asked.

The lady's well-groomed eyebrow crooked. "You want my name?"

"Yes."

She let out a short huff. "You are quite clever, young one."

"You're evading the question."

"Very clever girl," the mystery woman punctuated and she folded her fan and her dark lips formed into a smirk. "If I gave you my name, I'm afraid my amusement of watching you fluster around before you die would be short."

"What do you mean?" Tsubaki pushed.

"What it means is you are on a dangerous path. This place is guarded to protect its secrets, in which you are throwing yourself head first in."

The ghost children. They had run into them when they headed here. It wasn't a coincidence. They were searching for information about this place, secrets this place was built to guard.

They were putting themselves in danger by searching for answers.

"We shouldn't continue searching," Liz spoke up.

Tsubaki whipped toward her friend, her long ponytail swung over her shoulder. "We can't. We're always finding something out and if we continue— I'm sure we will find a way out."

"Your search won't find a way out," the mysterious woman said. "The only information you're uncovering is why this place exists and how it come to be, but there won't be a way out."

"See! Even she tells us we shouldn't keep on searching!"

"That is not what I'm saying," the mysterious woman chuckled as she unfolded her fan and gently waved it. "Quite the opposite. I want you to continue."

"Why?" Tsubaki asked. "What is it you want us to find?"

The mysterious woman remained silent. "The information you will find might not help you or the living, but there are more present who need your help. Those without a voice."

"How can we help?" Tsubaki leaned forward in her chair.

"By keep doing what you youngsters do best: putting your nose in business you do not belong in," she sighed heavily as if it had been hard work to talk to them. "I have said enough, but I will leave you with one last parting gift."

"Wait—" Tsubaki rose from her seat, but the mysterious lady disappeared at the same time a loud thud was sounded two book cases away.

Liz's feelings were conflicted. The first person… or kind spirit they had met since they arrived here. It was… ugh, when they finally found someone else in this hellhole who didn't throw themselves into mines or tried to murder them, she had to disappear. She had made her uneasy, but who wouldn't? Now the only woman who seemed to know anything about their situation was gone and who knew when they would run into her again.

Tsubaki had sought for the sound of the bang and she returned with an old folder she tossed on the table. She sunk down on her seat and her hands were just about to unstrap the bands when Liz placed her hand above hers.

"We shouldn't open it," Liz said.

"Why?"

"You heard what she said. The more we're digging into this, the more danger we are in. We could end up killed if we keep on searching for the answer."

"And do nothing? That way we will die every time." Tsubaki ran her fingers through Liz's and entwined their hands to Liz's surprise. Her heart speeded up at the gesture and joy swelled within her. This was the kind of gesture she had longed to receive from Tsubaki. She… she wanted to hold onto this feeling— hold onto her hand. She angled their hands and ran her thumb over the back of Tsubaki's hand.

"Maybe we won't die. We could just… maybe a solution would come to us."

"Liz…" Tsubaki murmured her name. "I know you are scared, I am too, but we can't sit around and wait. If we do, we will starve to death. We are onto something and we need to keep going in order to reach the goal. You will see, once we are at the end of the line of this, we will be rewarded."

She didn't know what to say. She was deathly afraid of what was about to come. They were in this dangerous situation and now it was confirmed if they continued, they wouldn't find an exit. They would only help someone else, but not themselves. Now wasn't the time for social work or volunteering. They had to think about themselves.

"Please… don't open that folder. Please, let's just… I-I don't want any of us to _die_."

A sweet and comforting smile spread on Tsubaki's lips. "You out of all people would understand to win it all you have to risk it all. You remember how you had it on the streets. To gain money for food, you had to mug someone and it was always a risk to it, it's just the same now."

"No it's not! On the streets I had a gun and— _I_ was the one doing the mugging. Now I'm the one being hunted!" She swallowed down the lump in her throat and she brought up Tsubaki's hand to her cheek, holding her hand close to her skin. "Please, this is not the same. We… we just can't do this."

Liz's heart broke when Tsubaki slipped her hand from hers.

"I'm sorry, but I've to keep on going. If you want, I can keep on digging on my own while you can hide inside of classroom 2-6. It's fine with me."

"No." Liz shook her head. "We stick together. Just…" her voice was lost. "I-I… I don't like this. I don't like this at all."

"It will be fine," Tsubaki reassured as she grabbed her hand once again, giving it a comforting squeeze. "We will be rewarded. We will find a way to escape here alive with all of our friends."

As much as she wanted to believe it, it felt like a huge lie. After watching the three ghosts kill that girl in the hallway without a second thought, and watching the guy unknowingly walk on mines and die without any warning, she wasn't sure. After witnessing how life could matter so little, of how little decency a life could be treated with. Nothing. Simply… one moment they were alive, and the next they could be dead.

"Remember, you can pull out of this any time you want, but I will keep on searching for a way for us to escape unharmed." She pulled her hand from Liz and she unstrapped the straps around the folder. She opened it and inside was papers. She pulled them out and as much as Liz wanted to look away and walk away, letting her friend go through them alone, but she didn't.

The papers… were surprisingly very plain. For documents that were deadly, they were surprisingly boring. Liz didn't know what she had expected, maybe documents written in blood or skulls on the papers, but the papers were simply a list of the faculty members. It was a whole list of names of the faculty members, what position they had and which area they had.

Why on earth would a list of the faculty members of Gallows Elementary School be so important? What possibly could this offer them?

"The kidnapper has to be on this list," Tsubaki murmured as she started going through the list of people. It was truly a list of all the people who worked at Gallows Elementary School. There were teachers, the school nurse, the principle, cookers, gardeners, the janitor and plenty of more people working in the school. How in the world would they manage to find the one person who kidnapped the children in a sea of people? It could be anyone on the list! How on earth were they supposed to figure out who was the correct person?

"Where are we even supposed to start? It would take forever to go through the list!" Liz whined.

"Maybe not…" Tsubaki stood up. "Maybe… there had to be records of the faculty members. Maybe there is a record of the employees how they acted that would narrow down our search a lot. The kidnapper had to be one who had a lot of strikes on their record for managing to find time to kidnap all of these kids."

"If they had a lot of strikes on their records, it would mean the person would've been under a watchful eye. How on earth would they've managed to kidnap that many kids," Liz sighed heavily and she rested her chin against her hand. "Honestly, it could _really_ be anyone of them."

"Maybe so, but there had to be some kind of lead in these papers." Tsubaki sighed as she started going through the papers. There was also a list of the children and which grade they were in and who was their assigned homeroom teacher. She poured her heart into the newly found papers as she compared the names in the missing children reports to the names on the records. Her hypothesis of a certain homeroom teacher having the majority of the missing children was quickly debunked. The kids were from all grades and had all homeroom teachers. Not one of them stuck out from the crowd.

It was… perfectly balanced. The children weren't kidnapped at random. This truly had to have been organized and systematic to avoid suspicion. It had been true what Liz said: searching for the principle's records of the teachers wouldn't amount to anything. The kidnapper was smart. Smart enough to go unnoticed for _years_. It wouldn't be easy to find who exactly had committed these crimes.

For every way Tsubaki twisted and turned the papers, seeing if anything had been written with invisible lemon juice ink like Black*Star had often done with Soul. She had held the papers in front of a light source and nothing had happened. Every angle she looked at it and every teacher's name she went through and sincerely _tried_ to frame them for the crime of kidnapping children, there simply wasn't _anything_ for her to go on.

What on earth did the mysterious lady want her to find in the papers?

Tsubaki had been about to give up. There was no way she could find out what hidden secret she was supposed to find. It didn't matter how long she tried to uncover the secret of the papers. There simply wasn't a clue for her to search on. She didn't even know where to start. She couldn't simply go through _all_ the teacher's offices in hope of finding _something_. If she even happened to stumble upon a piece of evidence, she could discard it as unimportant. She _knew_ there was something in these papers. There was a clue _somewhere_.

A heavy sigh escaped her and Tsubaki flopped down on the table, burying her face in her arms resting on the various papers.

"Have you finally given up?" Liz asked from her seat beside her.

Had she? She had analysed the papers and she had tried to find a clue, but where on earth was the clue? If Maka had been present she would've found the clue immediately. She was incredibly smart and… Maka and Kid would bicker about angles and perspective and deducting flawlessly. Tsubaki was smart, but she was nowhere near as clever as her friends.

If there was just something she could go on. _Something!_ Anything! What would Maka do? What would she had seen?

"I don't know if even these papers contain _anything_."

"You've been played. Let's just leave this place."

"But what if the papers do?" Tsubaki stated.

"Please, when has ghosts been friendly? The papers are bogus and meant to drive us insane." The chair shrieked as it was pushed backwards as Liz stood up. "We should go back before the ghosts decide to search the library."

Tsubaki lifted her head from the surface and one name in particularly glared at her.

 _Gorgon, Medusa. Biology and science teacher_.

"Gorgon…" she muttered.

Tsubaki had heard the name gorgon before, but _where_. Gorgon wasn't a usual name. She didn't know anyone with the last name Gorgon. But she had heard Gorgon before… from _where?!_

She gasped when it hit her like lightning hitting a tree on a meadow, enflaming her mind with the memory of earlier that day during the preparation for the Halloween festival.

_"…_ _I actually did some investigation for myself, and her full name is Arachne Gorgon. She did indeed exist over a hundred years ago, and she was an outstanding influential woman for her age, she owned a very successful bar and she was very popular among her suitors, but here's the interesting part." Maka grabbed a pair of scissors and carefully she started to tear at the collar of her uniform. "At the age of twenty-seven, she disappeared."_

Arachne Gorgon! Maka told her about the mysterious woman who disappeared mysteriously!

Disappeared…

Gorgon.

It was… she had no clue what it meant or even if it meant anything at all. But she couldn't help but strike some resemblance between Maka's story and this mysterious teacher Medusa Gorgon. If a woman with such prospects vanished like that, she didn't even know what she was trying to get at. These two Gorgons could be completely unrelated to each other. Maka even mentioned she disappeared over a hundred years ago, she didn't know what time they were in, but maybe it wasn't a hundred years ago.

But then again, Medusa Gorgon and Arachne Gorgon could be the same person! Arachne Gorgon could simply be a pseudo name and the bar could be a lie, she could've been teacher Medusa Gorgon!

Liz could be right. She could drive herself crazy in order to somewhat catch a trail for them to follow, this could be the definition of insanity, but she was willing to follow it and see if perhaps, Arachne Gorgon the mysterious two-post blog writer and teacher Medusa Gorgon had anything in common.

"I think we should visit Medusa Gorgon's office."

Liz fluttered her eyelashes as her face scrunched together in confusion. "W-what?"

"I just remembered something Maka said in the locker room. She had told me about Arachne Gorgon, a blogger who wrote about the horror story Maka told us earlier today. She shares the same last name as this teacher." Tsubaki pointed toward the teacher's name.

"It could just be two completely unrelated people." Liz let out a frustrated exhale of air. "You're going on a witch hunt and these two could as well be totally different people who have nothing in common! This so called 'lead' means absolutely nothing."

"It could mean absolutely nothing," Tsubaki responded, getting riled out by her friend who irritatingly ran her hand through her loose blonde hair. "But we aren't going anywhere if we don't try to know what happened to these kids! We can't just sit here and wait until we die!"

"And what wrong is that?" Liz sneered. "I want to live! I want to see Patty and Kid again and cuddle up on the couch and watch movies. I just want my _happy_ life back."

"I want too!" Tsubaki shouted back. "Don't you think _I_ don't want to go back? Of course I do! I want to go home to my parents and my brother. I want to tell them how much I love them despite pulling me away from my friends. And I… I want to find Black*Star." Tsubaki bit her lower lip and tears poured up in her eyes. "I… I want to tell him how I feel about him… I want to hug him and I want to tell him I love him." Tears started rolling down her cheeks and her arms quivered from the feelings she had hid inside of her. "I love him and I don't want to die without him knowing that. And… I _know_ he would never forgive himself or me if I died here."

Liz stared at her with indifference, but she could see something wasn't right with her. She swallowed repeatedly and her hands were balled. Her eyes were glossy when she looked away from her and hid behind her curtain of hair.

"I think we are clear then," Liz voiced shakily. "We'll go our separate ways."

As much as Tsubaki wanted to stay by Liz's side, they wouldn't get anywhere being together in this place. She… she was going to Medusa Gorgon's office and she was going to find Black*Star.

And she would confess to him.

"Okay fine…" Tsubaki grabbed the papers off the table and she put them into the folder. "I'll see you outside of Gallows Elementary School."


	11. Pain

Chapter 11

_Pain_

Oh dear the school had really taken a toll from the earthquake, Miss Marie thought as she stumbled around in the school. The timer she had put on her phone had already gone off. She had tried to return to the classroom, but the floor was still collapsed. There was no way she could reach Patty if she didn't find that one particular hole in the ceiling.

And with her lack of orientation, she was running around in circles in the building.

As she wandered around, she couldn't figure out how the school had… it was odd the whole situation. She had looked inside of classrooms and the interactive boards and projectors were gone and replaced with blackboards. Not to forget the rules on the walls referred to Gallows Elementary School all the time.

She was lost both physically and mentally. The situation was odd and she couldn't wrap her mind around the situation. The school seemed like their dvhool structure-wise, but the interior was completely different. The curtains were completely different and ripped and old. How… just how could the school have changed this much? An earthquake couldn't have taken all the projectors and interactive boards. At least there should've been traces of them left. No marks on the ceiling were left from the projector.

Something had happened and she didn't know what it was, but it wasn't good.

She had found a stairway up another level and she was wandering around the seemingly endless corridors as earthquakes hit her continuously. It seemed like an earthquake hit her every half an hour or so. Her cell didn't give her any warnings of the earthquakes, it simply hit her out of nowhere. She simply wished her students were okay.

But she remained strong. Black*Star and Maka were strong and she knew they could take care of each other. Tsubaki was a tough cookie when the situation called for it. She simply hoped Liz wasn't alone in this awful place. She was surely scared out of her mind in this place. She needed to find her students fast! Especially Patty. She was worried sick for her. She had left her in quite a state. Patty was in need of emergency medical attention and with her useless phone she couldn't call for an ambulance. She needed to find her and carry her out until she found reception.

But first, she needed to find the hole leading into the office Patty had fallen down in.

Usually it would be easy finding a hole in the floor, but with the floor containing many holes and collapsed floors, it was hard to orientate herself around and for every hole she looked down, it didn't lead to Patty. She couldn't help but feel like… it could be because she was _really bad_ when it came to finding her way around buildings. It had taken her a really long time to find her way around Shibusen High. The first couple of months she either had a teacher showing her the way or she tried to find the classroom with the help of a map, but it always ended with her running into a student who helped her find the classroom. She was bad when it came to orientation, but… she had this nagging feeling in her gut that the school _moved_. It was odd, but sometimes, she had the feeling that floors that were collapsed, they returned all good as if they hadn't been broken. She knew it was a crazy thought, but sometimes when she turned around after an earthquake or she backtracked, she found a new way to go which she was certain was broken before.

It was a useless thought. Of course floors couldn't return like that. It was just her imagination.

She had wandered through these corridors and her feet were killing her. If she knew she was going to walk as much as she had, she wouldn't have gone with her high heels.

And Joe… she was most likely running late for their date. She doubted he was still waiting for her. She couldn't contact him and he hadn't tried to contact her.

Miss Marie took a pause and she fished up her phone from her pocket, unlocking the screen and finding her background picture of her and Joe when they were younger. Young love.

After she and Stein had broken up, she had dated Joe and he had been everything Stein wasn't. He was romantic and he cared in a way Stein never had. Joe showed her affection and she ate it up, but they had been young and immature. They had gone their separate ways. She had found her way back to Stein, gotten her heart broken and now… Joe was back in her life like a bright shine of sunshine. The years had served them well and they were both more mature. He… he confessed his flaws and wished to get back together. And she had wanted the same as well. He had been healing to her. Healing her broken heart and sweeping her off of her feet. She loved him and she wanted to make their relationship work.

And she was running desperately late.

"I got to find Patty and the others." She placed her phone in the pocket and she continued searching. She moved her hands up to her face and used them as a megaphone. "Patty! Can you hear me!" Her voice echoed in the corridors. No reply.

She had wasted enough time already. She needed to find a way to Patty! She had to be scared out of her mind and worried about her. Thirty minutes had already passed four times over or more. Soon she had to find the hole leading to her—

She came to a stop when suddenly, a small child stood in her path. It was a child she didn't recognize. It was a girl with pink hair and a messy uneven cut in a long black dress and… it had to be the light coming in from the window because the child had an eerily cold blue aura around her.

"Hello little one," Miss Marie greeted calmly as she sunk down on her knees to reach the girl's eye-level. The girl remained quiet as she stood at the same spot. Strange. "Have you seen my students around here? Maybe a boy, quite loud and with blue spiky hair or perhaps a girl with long blonde hair?" The girl remained silent as she stared at her with unusual blank eyes. "Maybe you've seen a boy with white hair and red eyes or a girl with blonde hair in pigtails?"

The girl started to grin wide toward her, far too wide for her liking. It was simply the atmosphere unnerving her, a sweet child like her couldn't scare her away, but yet her stomach knotted. "Have you seen them? Have you seen Maka and Soul?"

"hunshues… hunshues… hunshues…" the girl gurgled. Miss Marie didn't know exactly what was wrong with the child, but her speech wasn't as developed as it should be judging from her age. It wasn't a lisp, and it wasn't because the child didn't know how to form words, it was something else entirely different.

Slowly Miss Marie took a couple of steps closer to the girl, remaining low on the ground to remain on her eye-level. Once she was closer up and clearly had a better view of the girl's mouth as she religiously kept on chanting the word, horror washed over her when she noticed her tongue was missing.

"Dear Lord…" Miss Marie murmured as she covered her mouth. "What happened to your tongue?"

As soon as she had finished her sentence, something within the girl seemed to snap. Her eyes widened, threatening to leave their sockets and her veins were clear in the whites of her eyes. Her gaze was transfixed on her and she didn't blink even once.

"Hunshue…" the girl exhaled quickly as if she had hissed out the word in anger.

"What is it? What is it you want?" Miss Marie had been on her way to comfortingly reach out toward her when the girl had gripped her wrist and twisted it away from her, locking her in a painful arm-lock. Miss Marie hissed in pain as she tried to slither out of the girl's grip, but her grip was strong. Far stronger she imagined a girl of her size would possess.

"Please… let go," Miss Marie pleaded.

The girl reached toward her, reaching out toward her mouth. Her fingers brushed her lips and strangely, her fingers pried Miss Marie's mouth open and her fingers gripped her tongue. Panic started to set in when she got a grip of her tongue and started to pull. Miss Marie groaned loudly as she tried to evade her when the young girl gripped her throat. Miss Marie gripped the young girl's wrist and she tried to rip her hand away from her throat and back out of the girl's grip at the same time just like one of her colleagues had taught her when Stein started going psychotic and could start strangling her. It had worked on him, and he was stronger, but as much as she tugged and tried to back out of the girl's small hand, she simply couldn't.

The young girl suddenly hissed loudly and she repelled from her, staring toward her waist as if it had personally offended her. Miss Marie breathed heavily as she sunk her hand in her pocket, the same spot the young girl stared at and pulled out her teacher's ID with the paper scrap from the ritual. The girl reacted immediately. She hissed loudly, saliva mixed with blood dripped form her mouth as her hands balled in anger. Her nose wrinkles and she throws her hand toward the side, pointing her index finger toward a classroom window. Suddenly, the light shifts and the child seemingly _disappeared_ into the thin air!

As Miss Marie breathed heavily as she massaged her throat, she's baffled at… where had the child gone? She… she had just disappeared!

But… she had pointed toward the classroom.

What was she trying to tell her? Why had the girl tried to do with her tongue?

Chills ran down her spine as she shivered at the phantom of the girl's hand on her throat and fingers gripping her tongue. She had met difficult children before, but none of them had actually tried to strange her, or gripped her tongue for that matter! It was hard shaking off the chills from her skin or the phantom of the girl's hands. Miss Marie took deep breaths and she shook her upper body, allowing her arms to hang limp as she tried to shake off the unsettling sensation. She couldn't get rid of the sensation completely, but partially it disappeared; but the memory of what happened would never leave her.

She needed to keep on moving. She couldn't let _one_ unsettling run in scare her. She had Patty she needed to return to and find the other kids. She was the adult and she was their homeroom teacher, she _must_ find them and get Patty medical attention.

If only she could get reception she could turn on the GPS and the authorities could track them down!

But it didn't work. So now she had to work with what she had, and what had been presented in front of her, was the door the girl had pointed toward.

She went up to the door and she opened the door. It shrieked loudly and it certainly was in need of some oil. Tables and chairs were tumbled over and nothing seemingly stood out from the "usual" in this place. It was all a mess and looked abandoned.

Her eyes fluttered when she caught sight of a faint red glow behind a tumbled over table.

What was it?

She entered the classroom and the door clicked shut behind her. Slowly she made her way toward the red glow behind the table.

"Soul, is that you?" she asked. No response. "Black*Star?" she tried. It remained quiet. "Liz? Kid? Maka? Tsubaki?" She probed but she earned no sound.

She came to a stop in front of the table and she leaned over, a gasp tearing her throat when she came eye to eye to the bones of a child. Only bones remained and the school uniform was now stained and loose around the skeleton. From the school uniform, she could detect the bones were the remains of a male, possibly a high schooler.

Miss Marie could barely believe her eyes. What was a skeleton doing here?! It wasn't like the theatre departments props, not the corpses she could witness on TV. This… this was horrifying. The bones were… they had details she hadn't witnessed before. Could it possibly be… a child had come here to commit suicide? No. This was too crazy! She had never seen a corpse before, but no way would she run into a corpse here! This was utter madness—

In her panic, she hadn't quite registered that the bones were _glowing_ a faint red, which grew in strength and a red ball of light gathered in the chest before it left the skeleton and floated up to her eye-level.

She gasped and she backpedalled.

What was this?! What was going on?! She hadn't seen any lamps or visual effect anywhere! What is going on?!

"Teacher… Teacher… TeAcHeR!" a voice echoed from the red orb floating in the air. There were no speakers or… but she was _certain_ it came from the red ball of light. It… It… _what was it?!_

"Black*Star, this isn't funny," Miss Marie spoke with as much strength and authority she could muster. "I command you to come forward. This building is dangerous and we need to evacuate. Come forward now and I won't have to double your detention." She knew it was an empty threat. Black*Star didn't care about detention or extra homework, but what else was she going to say? She was aware she didn't have anything up her sleeves she could use to gain power. Black*Star might respect her as a person, but he certainly didn't respect her authority.

Black*Star nor the other students appeared around the corners laughing at her silliness.

"Teacher… kill… fucking teacher," the ball of red changed in strength as the voice talked.

"What are you?" Miss Marie asked as fear started to root in her heart. "What is going on here?"

"You teachers are the most vile creates on earth," the red orb spoke, completely ignoring her questions. "Whenever a student is bullied, beaten or abused, all you teachers do is turning a blind eye to it. Allowing the abuse to continue."

What was the red light saying? Of course teachers wouldn't allow one of their students to be abused! At least not any teachers at Shibusen High. She was aware some teachers turned a blind eye, but she was innocent. She wouldn't do that nor the other teachers or faculty members for that matter. Discrimination or bullying wasn't allowed.

"We don't do that. We don't turn a blind eye on a child in need of assistance," she stated.

Instead of it having a reassuring effect, it flared the fire. The red light flamed and grew brighter and the ground shook slightly from the power. The lights in the ceiling glimmered and swung.

"You all teachers are worthless!" the voice boomed. "You're all lying sack of shits who care more about your own ass than a child being abused in every way possible!"

This situation was crazy. This… this… _force_ was the only thing she could describe it as. It certainly had a mind of its own. Had experience. And it wasn't good. But the most important fact, the floor wasn't shaking without a reason, somehow… the red force in front of her had to have caused it. It certainly didn't feel like an earthquake. Not a natural one she had experienced. This… this wasn't like anything she had experienced before.

"Not all teachers are like that," she cringed the moment her clumsy words had left her mouth.

And the effect was immediate.

Above her head was a loud creak and she only had a moment to look up when the cords to the lamp snapped. The lamp came crashing down on her head and brought her down to the floor. Pain erupted in her head and the warm glass shards were entangled in her hair and on the floor. Nausea crept on her and the floor seemingly tilted. Her stomach turned and she had to force herself from not puking. The glass rustled as she moved her head from under the long fluorescent lamp. The air left her lungs when a sudden weigh was pressing down on her shoulder and bicep.

"Oh god that hurts!" she gritted as she desperately tried to wiggle herself out from underneath it, but in vain. The edges of the lamp started to dig into her skin and draw blood.

"You stupid teachers are nothing but garbage that needs to be taken out." The red light spoke.

She gritted her teeth. "You're wrong. The teachers you had failed you, and I am sorry for you. Nobody deserves to be abused, especially not on the school grounds." She gave out a cry of pain when the weight on her shoulder grew heavier and a loud crack resonated in her head, but she had to keep going. "But you can't keep doing this. I've a student who is waiting for me to find a way to her and get her medical attention." Miss Marie coughed repeatedly, blood splattering on the floor and she breathed heavily.

Damn it, the lamp had to have broken a rib or two and it was probing her lung. Ugh, she was in so much pain!

Her hand balled, nails digging into the wooden floor. "Her leg is broken. She's alone and scared. She _needs_ me."

The red light huffed loudly. "You teachers… simply now when you're held responsible for the children you neglect, you are only trying to save your own skin. You don't care about your student."

"You're wrong," she growled. "My students… they are like my own children. I love each and every one of them and I would _never_ turn my back on them. I would give them my own life if I could keep them safe!"

The red light went silent. The growing pressure from the lamp halted.

"Then prove it," it spoke. "If I spare you, I will track down every single one of your students and kill them. And if I kill you, I will spare the kids."

"Then you better kill me right n—"

"LIAR!" it exclaimed and the voice shook from the power.

She cried audibly when the weight of the lamp pressed down on her, it was far too strong. It wasn't as if only one person stood on the lamp, but the whole class stood and jumped on top of it.

"You are only trying to save your own skin. You don't mean a single word you're saying! You're nothing but a damn coward! I will give you one more chance to save yourself before I'll have the light cut you into two pieces!"

"You heard me loud and clear before," she breathed heavily. "You won't hurt a single hair on their heads." Her voice was cut off when the pressure grew heavier and loudly her entire right ribcage cracked loudly. Pain washed over her to the sound of the red floating orb screaming loudly in agony. Energy left her body and her eyelids grew heavier. Soon she lost unconscious with one question ringing in her head.

…

…

… will her students be alright?

…

What kind of thought did Soul and Maka have? Trying to gain some sort of sleep in a haunted school like this one with dangers around every corner. Usually he could fall asleep at anywhere and at any moment, but as he lay in the unoccupied hospital bed next to Maka, hearing her calm breathing, he couldn't sleep. Maka had been beyond exhausted from all the spiritual input and had fallen asleep quickly. While sleep wasn't in his cards, it had been soothing listening to her regular breathing and watching her chest rise and fall for every breath she took. Simply looking at her and knowing they were both unharmed gave him some relaxation.

The moment when he thought Maka would wake up from her nap, he must've slumbered because the next moment he opened his eyes, she was already up and on her feet by the desk.

"You should've woken me up," he mumbled as he rubbed his eye from leftover sleep.

She turned to him and smiled kindly, eyes almost sparkling in the darkness as she turned to head over to him. He quizzically looked at a small shadow behind her. The shadow had arms and legs; shaped like a person, or rather a small child. He couldn't tell anything about it, the blackness was dense and he couldn't tell if it was a friend or foe.

"Maka look behind y—"

As if she had stepped on a trigger, metal wires erupted from the ground, walls, ceiling and the furnishing as if it had all been strung up now tightened and became a deadly weapon.

And Maka was standing in the middle of it.

"Maka—" He reached toward her when the metal wires sliced through her. Her warm blood splattered on his outstretched hand and face and the overwhelming smell of copper assaulted his nose. The flesh and her now severed body thudded on the floor and her blood stained the metal wires which had come to a halt.

Horror washed over him at the sight of her simply a moment ago had been alive and well and now… gone. Just like that. Without any preparations. She was gone—

He shook when a hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder. He whirled around too fast and slipped on his feet, falling down on the ground. Behind him was… Maka; sitting on her bed with her hand hovering in the air with shock written all over her face.

Now he wasn't getting it.

"What… you were— you were there and you were— and now you're—" he stuttered as he pointed in every direction.

"Are you okay?" Maka finally asked as her eyebrow rose questioningly at him.

"I— I…" he snorted and he shook his head in disbelief. "I must've had a nightmare."

"While you were sitting up?" she asked. "Soul, I had been calling your name but you didn't answer."

Had she? He hadn't even heard a single word she had said. He had… He had woken up and found her standing by the desk and the metal wires— exhaustion had to have finally broken him down and he must've fallen asleep sitting up.

"Soul, your head was straight up. It was clear you were awake but… you didn't say anything and…" her voice faltered. "What happened?"

Soul shrugged his shoulders. "I don't' honestly know. I was awake and then I must've fallen asleep because when I woke up, you were awake and standing by the desk and… I saw a small shadow beside you and the next thing I know you're…" he paused.

"I was… what?"

His hands tightened as a knot formed in his throat. The image of Maka being sliced apart still fresh on his mind and the horrifying sensation still hung on his skin, reminding him of the awful vision he had seen.

"… you died," he whispered.

Simply uttering the words made Maka visibly uneasy. She inhaled deeply and she averted her eyes as she squirmed. "So you had a hallucination," she concluded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't know."

"Soul…" she paused as her eyes fluttered shut. "I awoke because I felt a strange strong presence here. It…" gently she shook her head. "It was around _you_."

Soul raised his eyebrow. "So… you're saying I was in the process of being possessed by some crazy spirit?"

"No… not a spirit. This… I felt it coming from the tongue bag but… it's hard to explain, but it didn't feel as if it had a mind, so it couldn't be a ghost."

Soul pulled out the tongue bag and he looked at it. He didn't know what she was talking about because he could feel no energy coming from it. "Then what the hell was it because _that_ wasn't pleasant."

"All I can describe it as it's… energy. The tongue gives off a certain bad energy and… you must've rested and relaxed your mind so then your mind must've been more affected by it."

"So… if I let down my guard I'll lose myself to this bad energy?"

"It's the only explanation I have to this." Maka held out her hand toward him. "Let me carry it."

"What? No!" Soul exclaimed as he pulled the tongue bag away from her hand. "You're already vulnerable having to sense all of these energies. How will you manage all of that with a source of bag energy on you?"

Maka rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not going to carry it all the time. We will take turns carrying it and once we feel we're starting to get effected, we will switch."

"I'm fine now. I can carry it. Just… keep an eye on me and if you feel it's starting to affect me again, you can have it."

"Fine." Maka lowered her hand and she jumped off the bed. "We should continue. We have found one tongue, maybe there are more out there we need to find."

"Yeah." Maka rounded the bed and she offered her hand to him, he accepted and she pulled him up on his feet. Her eyes lingered on his knuckles which had started to turn blue and the small cuts were already coagulated.

"I'm okay," Soul reassured.

"I know, it's just… I'm the one who did this to you and I didn't even help you clean your cuts."

"It's my fault for trying to stop you when you went psychotic."

"Still. At least I could've helped you clean them just like you took care of mine."

"It's cool," Soul smirked and he pulled his hand from hers, shoving them into his pockets. "I appreciate the thought, though."

"What does a thought do to heal wounds?"

"Certainly more than you think they do," immediately Soul cleared his throat and turned away from her, shielding his warm cheeks from her watchful eyes.

It had been such a long time ago since Maka showed anything toward him. Being avoided for _months_ had left its mark on him and… having Maka show concern and compassion for him made his heart warm. Simply her words had a healing effect on him which no wound care could offer.

"We should really start going," Maka changed the subject to his relief.

"Yeah."

They exited the Nurse's Office and they started to head down the corridors once again. They didn't know exactly where they should start searching. They had no clue where another tongue could be or where their friends could be within their dimensions, but they continued. Maka had the idea if she tried to search for a similar bad energy, they could find it. So that was what they were doing. Every now and then Maka would halt, feeling all the different energies this place emitted choosing from all the bad vibes she got to follow the one that seemed the most similar to the tongue they had already found. Sometimes Maka would feel a very bad energy and they would head in the opposite direction immediately, and he didn't question her judgement. If she had a bad feeling about the tongue and managed to be around it, if she was met with an even worse sensation, he didn't want to know what it was!

They stumbled upon a staircase up another level, which was odd. When they had looked out of the window to the courtyard caged, they had seen three levels of windows. There wasn't supposed to be a fourth floor.

"Oh no…" Maka whispered as she jogged up the stairs.

"What?" Soul questioned as he was quick behind her.

"I sense bad energy up there, and I don't know what, but it concerns me."

"How can bad energy make you concerned?" Soul huffed as he swung his arms. Damn, he was doomed from the start. How in hell was he supposed to keep up with a track star! "Slowdown will you?!"

She didn't listen. She jogged up the stairs. The stairs went on and on and on. Soul didn't know how many floors they had run up. The stairway was continuous. He finally reached the end of the level and down was a wooden stairway attached to the ceiling which was now lowered and… the hatch was completely obliterated. The wooden pieces of what he thought were the remains of the hatchet was scattered on the floor and left was a huge hole in the ceiling. It was as if the whole had been cut up in a chaotic hurry by… a saw. Or rather…

A chain saw.

Instincts quickly kicked in and he hurried up the last stairs, following Maka up. "Maka!" he yelled her name as he reached the final level and found Maka standing in front of the railing to the large old bell; with a male student hanging from the bell in a noose.

"What… the… fuck?" Soul whispered.

"He must've committed suicide."

"Why?"

Maka shrugged her shoulders. "I… he couldn't take it anymore. He… he killed his friend and he was ashamed… he locked himself in the bell tower and he killed himself."

"How do you know?"

"I sense it from him. It's… it's as if he is whispering it repeatedly for himself. It's the only thing I can hear from him. How sorry he is and how scared and ashamed he is. He wanted to end it on his own terms instead of being caught and killed."

"Wow… that's awful."

Maka nodded and she visibly swallowed. "I've this strange feeling… the air is dense with bad energy but… it's as if it's being let out. As if it has been trapped inside of here and now… its being let out."

"Do you think it has anything to do with the hatchet?"

Maka nodded.

"The marks and how the hatchet is completely cut apart, I think the dude with the chainsaw we saw was here and did this."

"It's possible. But what I'm wondering is how the bad energy gathered _here_. It's not coming from the body and… it can't be a tongue because I don't feel any energy similar to that."

"What do you make of it?"

"I'm not sure, but whatever was in here and produced all this negative energy, it has left."

"And so should we too. I don't want to run into that dude _or_ the source of this bad energy. It can't be good."

"Yeah, let's leave." Maka went down the stairs first and Soul threw the top of the bell tower one last glance. On the glass of the large clock window was blood smeared on the surface. He had no clue what had happened here, but it wasn't good.

He headed down the stairs after Maka, always two steps behind her. A heavy silence hung between them and they barely talked. Soul dutifully followed Maka two steps behind her as she occasionally stopped to sense the air. Maka would murmur something and she would choose one path to walk. They headed down another level to the second level and they headed down a corridor when Maka suddenly raised her arm, stopping him in her tracks.

"What's going on—"

"Something is coming," Maka spoke tensely.

His reaction was immediate, he grabbed a hold of her wrist and he started to drag her toward the nearest door.

"H-hold on."

"If someone is coming it can't be a friend," Soul snarled as he opened the door and dragged them both inside. He quietly closed the door after him and pulled them both down on the ground so the one heading down the corridor wouldn't see them from the window in the door.

"N-No." Maka shook her head as she gripped her temples. "I-I can feel the presence of a tongue along with the person and… this is the source of the same energy I felt up in the bell tower."

"If that is the case then we can't get involved. It has to be the chainsaw dude."

"I don't think so, this is different energy—"

Soul covered her mouth with his hand and she squealed against his hand, giving him an angry glare when the sound of footsteps resonated in the corridor. He didn't care. He would tie her up and gag her if it was what took to keep her safe.

The footsteps rung in the corridor and he held his breath as he kept on covering Maka's mouth. The figure reached the classroom and the shadow of the person casted against the window. Maka's eyes widened and she trashed, ripping his hand from her mouth and she catapulted against the door, looking out of the window. Before Soul could catch her, she ripped the door wide open.

"Kid!" Maka screamed, wearing the biggest smile on her face as she stared at the figure.

Soul's eyes grew wide when he stared at his classmate. His arms were covered in blood and the tongue bag hung from his hand. His nose… it was broken and blood was smeared over his mouth and chin. His hair was a mess. Never before had he seen him so… messy. Normally he would've freaked out from the blood on him and his hair would be fixed with his comb.

What the hell happened to him?

"I'm so glad to see you!" Maka screamed as she took a step forward. Soul hurried on his feet and he grabbed Maka's wrist, preventing her from going anywhere closer to him. He knew Kid. He wouldn't be this calm and collected when he was in this state. Something was off about him and he didn't trust him. Maka had said the figure had the same bad energy as the space up in the bell tower, as much as he didn't want to believe Kid could be… all he knew was Kid was different and he couldn't afford putting his trust in him and risk the chance of Maka ending up hurt.

Maka threw Soul a glare as she tried to free her wrist put his grip on her tightened.

"Soul… Maka…" Kid murmured as he raised his free hand, slapping his temple two times, not caring if he got blood in his hair.

"I'm so glad to see you! Have you met the others?" Maka asked.

"Others…" His head drunkenly tipped and a wide grin grew on his face. "Yeah… the others…"

"Have you seen them?" Maka repeated.

"No."

Soul gestured toward his bloody hands. "What the hell happened to you?"

Kid giggled and Soul had never heard his friend laugh like _that_. "I found this pile of meat and under a floor board I found this bag."

Pile… of flesh? No. It couldn't be…

"Where was it?" Soul quickly asked, Maka gave him a quizzical look.

"Donno."

"Was it on this floor?"

Kid nodded.

Bile turned in his stomach simply at the thought of Kid diving in… what kind of sick fuck had he become?

"What does the bag contain?"

"Curious, aren't we?" Kid smirked wide. Soul spluttered when Kid threw them the tongue bag and he caught it. "You take it." Kid turned away from them and started to walk away.

"Wait, Kid! Where are you going?"

He stopped and only turned his head slightly toward them. "Somewhere."

"Don't you want to come with us, we could go all together—"

Soul yanked at her arm and it successfully shut her up because she turned toward him and glared at him. "Go. We'll see each other again," Soul spoke and only earned an incredulous stare from Maka.

Kid didn't say another word. He started walking away from them, slightly wobbling and he raised his hand to beat at his temple again.

Maka let out an unbelievable exhale and she was going to go after him when his grip on her wrist tightened and he gently shook his head, advising her from pursuing. Her head snapped back toward Kid as he went away from them, disappearing into the darkness of the corridor.

"I can't believe you," Maka sneered, she ripped her wrist away from his grip and he let her go. "When we do find one of our friends you just let him go? What the hell is wrong with you! You know we all should stick together!"

Soul huffed. "Didn't you see how he was? He had _blood_ on his hands."

"So what?! He's still our friend and we should all stick together if we want to get away from here."

Soul's jaw tightened as he stared at her glistering eyes and balled hands. Jealousy tugged at his heart because he knew exactly why Maka wanted him close to her.

He wasn't just her friend or study buddy. _He_ was the one who she wanted to be stuck together at this place. She would trade him for _any_ of their friends. He was nothing to her while to him, she was his everything. She meant more to him than his own life. All he wanted was for her to see _him_. Truly see him and yet… he had tried. God he had tried. And yet… it didn't matter. Even if she saw him, really saw him, her heart was somewhere else. What was left of his heart was to be smashed by hers, and gosh, watching her upset because he hindered her from being with the one she wanted to be with, it _hurt_. He didn't want to hurt her but… Kid wasn't in the right place and he wanted Maka miles away from him when he was in that condition.

She blinked her tears away before they could leave her eyes.

He tried to swallow down the knot of hurt forming in his throat. "I know you would've rather been stuck here with anyone else than me, and I know you would take the first of our friends to share this fucked up nightmare with."

She snapped toward him and her eyes were wide at the shock of his words. "… you aren't the worst person I could be with."

Soul snorted. "That's a kind way of saying I'm at the bottom of your list." He pocketed the tongue bag with the other one and he crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall. "But look, I know you're eager to find one of our friends so you won't have to be alone with me anymore, believe me I want us to go with Kid but he isn't in the right mind."

"But Kid is our friend."

"Maka I know." He was going to say it. "It's obvious you like him more than as a friend and I wouldn't want to keep him from you. If I was in your shoes, I would be angry and upset too."

Her mouth dropped and her eyes were wide in shock. "You… but how?"

With two simple words his heart cracked in his chest. She liked him. It was finally confirmed. It was _Kid_ she liked. Black*Star had been wrong. He had tried to keep his hopes up, but it was all in vain. Maka liked Kid. Even though his heart was breaking and he felt like screaming and get it all out of his system, his face remained neutral. Unmoved. Complete unfazed and unknown to Maka of what pain he was in.

"It wasn't hard. You're always talking to him and studying with him. Not to mention you're always touching him and being near him. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see how much you like him."

She remained silent, backpedalling as if he had revealed her greatest and most protected secret.

"I know it sucks," he continued. "But he can't go with us. He is unstable and quite frankly… I fear he will hurt us."

"But it is Kid we are talking about! He wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"But this Kid would," Soul was quick to add. "You said he had the same energy as the one up in the bell tower. You saw how he looked. You know more than me that the Kid we know would _never_ walk around with blood up to his elbows and blood smeared on his chin."

"So what? Kid is dirtier than normal but he still needs us.

Soul's eyes fluttered shut and he ran his hand through his hair. He had planned on never telling her, keeping it a secret but… she needed to know in order to let him go.

"I wasn't planning on telling you this, but I think you need to know."

"Need to know what?"

"You know when you had your first psychotic break. When I found you in the classroom with the flesh splattered against the blackboard?"

"Yes, the pile Kid must've referred to where he found the tongue bag."

"Yes, that pile." Soul inhaled a breath of courage. "Maka… when you were in your episode… you talked a lot and you mentioned…" he swallowed heavily. "You referred to the pile as Patty."

She inhaled sharply and she slapped her hands over her mouth, choking down a cry. "No." she shook her head as she lower her hands. "No. No. You're lying. No, no, no, no, no! It can't be Patty! She's— she's— somewhere here— _alive!_ "

"Both you and I know you haven't been wrong with your spiritual sensing ability. That was Patty's corpse against the wall and Kid was digging around in her."

"No! No, no, no," she repeated and new tears welled up in her eyes and broke free. She backpedalled and she sunk down to the floor. She let out a cry of pain and sobbed as tears rolled down her cheeks. "It can't be… Patty can't be dead! Kid would've never—" her voice broke as she sobbed.

He hadn't been close to Patty, but she was a great girl. She knew how to liven things up and the few pranks he and her had pulled on Black*Star was fond memories. He could barely believe such a happy girl like her… she was gone, and he feared how he would break the news to Liz. Maka… she had known Patty far longer than he had. And they were quite close. They would occasionally have their sleepovers and all the girls always glowed with joy on Mondays when they returned to school. He couldn't imagine what pain she was in.

Sorrow grew in his throat and he kneeled down in front of her. He reached his hand out toward her and she flinched away.

"Don't touch me!" she cried out.

He pulled back his hand as if he had been burned, but he guessed he deserved it. In order to get her back on his side with the Kid matter on their hands, he had to break the news for her to see. He had inflicted that pain on her and now… He didn't know how they would continue working on the same page. Their partnership throughout this nightmare had been brittle and a work in progress and now… he was afraid she would do something reckless again. All he wanted was to keep her safe from harm, and now he could've inflicted the starting blow to her slow downfall that would lead to her death.

All he could do was stand beside her as she cried rivers, mourning for Patty and begging for Kid to be there. And in her mind, he knew she was cursing him and wishing he was gone.


	12. Backs

Chapter 12

_Backs_

Black*Star breathed heavily and fast, hands clutching his hair as he gasps for air. He inhaled as much air as possible, but for every fast breath he took, it felt as if none of the oxygen did anything to relieve the haywire of thoughts rushing inside of his head.

What the fuuuuuuuck. All of this was… it was _real_. All the corpses— this place was _real_ and all the dangers were _REAL!_ All this time, he had been running around like an idiot and making a fool out of himself, wrapped in the blanket of the illusion of safety. These people… they had been killed and… he could've died because he was ignorant of the fact these people were _DEAD!_

"Pull yourself together," Justin spoke as he leaned at the wall beside him, arms crossed over his chest.

How the fuck could he? He was at this crazy place with no exit! He couldn't break the windows and if he headed out the main entrance, he would be blown to pieces just like that person had.

Seriously, what the fuck kind of place was this?!

"We don't have time for this. We can stand around here by the staircase and wait for Giriko to come and I'm warning you, when he does, I'm not going to stick around because your pissy little ass can't get your head out of the gutter."

Ohhhh he was right. That chainsaw dude Maka had warned for could show up and… he would die. He wouldn't be able to see Tsubaki again and… and Maka. What would she do? He knew she was strong and confident and enjoyed spooky situations but… she was practically his sister. He wanted to see her once again and apologize for putting a tarantula in her locker. All he wanted was to see Tsubaki and Maka again. And Soul too that punk.

He closed his eyes and he had to focus on his breathing. Once his breathing was stable, he could move on. He inhaled as slowly as he could, tried to hold his breath for as long as he possibly could before he released it. Simply trying to gain control of his chaotic breathing was easier said than done. He felt he was strangling himself on the air and the sensation made him crazy. His grip on his hair tightened as he fought his instinct, forcing himself to take deep and long breaths to calm his racing heart.

Slow and easy. Slow and easy. He took his time and used every ounce of his concentration to keep his breathing slow and steady.

He had no clue how long he sat there, breathing slowly until his heart rate had slowed down and finally he felt like he was in control of his breathing again.

"You done?" Justin asked.

"Yeah." On unsteady legs, he rose on his feet.

"Good." Justin turned toward him. "You ready to head out?"

"Where exactly?"

"To find my buddy Enrique."

Black*Star raised an eyebrow at him. "So I'm going to help _you_ find your friend?"

"Yeah, and on the way we could stumble across one of your friends I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"Yeah, consider finding Enrique is my only way out of here and how many friends do you have here who are still alive?"

This piqued his interest, his eyes fluttered in confusion. "Wait. What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you know? There is a way out of here."

Relief washed over Black*Star at hearing those words. Since… well, since around when he learned this was freaking _real_ and not a prank designed by Maka and Soul. Which was embarrassingly not long ago. Nonetheless it was comforting knowing the dude who knew a way out had found him. But then again, it wasn't hard since he was the GOD of this universe! He was like the sun and everything revolved around HIM!

"Yeah, my partner Tezca and our cameraman Enrique have been jumping in and out of this universe."

"Wait, universe?"

Justin started to explain everything about this universe as they kept on walking. He explained that this _space_ as he had put it, was closed. This was an exact copy of the real school Gallows Elementary where tragic events happened. Somehow… they had found themselves in this closed space with multiple dimensions, dimensions him and his friends were scattered in. Even if they were in the same classroom at the exact same time, they wouldn't find each other. It was useless. If they couldn't jump between the closed spaces, there was no way they could find each other.

That meant… how the fuck was he supposed to find Maka?!

The longer Justin explained the complexity of this closed space, the more he was lost. He knew Maka would get this at once and she could counter with questions and… he knew this stuff was useful information she could use but… how the hell was he supposed to use the information when he didn't even get what the hell he was talking about?!

The way Justin described the complexity of this world was beyond him. He went down and dirty in the scientific details of how dark material or whatever was involved and atoms and… ugh, too many terms for him to even remember them, and far too hard to understand what the hell Justin was on.

"Wait, hold the fuck on, if we are in this closed carton box, how the hell are we supposed to find your camguy?"

"Tell me, when you performed the Sachiko Ever After charm, did you hold on to each other when you fell?"

"What does that have to do with it?" he asked.

"Because if you clung onto each other when you fell, you would all end up in the same closed space."

When the floor had cracked open he… he had tried to reach for Tsubaki, but he hadn't reached her. From the note in the classroom by the main entrance, Maka had written she was with Soul and he… had he been close to Maka? He hadn't exactly paid any attention of his bro was finally making a move on her when the floor had been ripped wide open from the earthquake.

"We were together, but we lost each other when…" Justin cleared his throat and he came to a sudden stop. "Black*Star, have you ever felt as if _something_ is crawling inside of your mind? Ever felt as if someone was whispering in your ear to lose all control and give in."

"Nah."

Justin let out a snort. "Well you haven't been here for that long, huh."

"I've been here long enough."

"You'll start feeling the effects of the madness soon enough." Justin crossed his arms over his chest. "It's that exact madness that got my partner killed."

Say whaaaaaat?!

"Tezca started to lose it. He took his knife and he leapt toward Enrique and before I knew it, they were fighting. I was going to help when Giriko came and I got the hell away from there. Once things had calmed down, I returned and found Tezca's corpse, but not Enrique's. I know he's alive and we just need to find each other."

"Who the fuck attacks his friends?!"

"One who is influenced and taken over by the madness. Believe me, if you're here long enough and the madness has started to break down your mind, you won't hesitate to hurt those who you love."

He didn't believe it. Never in a million years would he even as much raise a fist to hit Maka or Tsubaki. Well, Maka he could wrestle and get a smack in, but never would he hurt Tsubaki! No way would he think of beating his friends till they were dead or downright murder them! They… they couldn't have been close. No way would he turn toward his friends and of course none of them would turn on him. This whole thing about "madness" had to be a joke. No way did such a thing exist to make him turn against his friends!

Justin sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "So now I need to find Enrique so we can get away from here. It was a mistake to continuously study this place."

There were two thoughts that appeared on his mind.

"This isn't the first time you're here?!" Black*Star burst out and for the first time, hope blossomed in his chest.

"Yes of course. We couldn't stay here forever. We had to return and analyse the footage we got and work on the book Tezca was going to release, or rather _was_."

Joy washed over Black*Star and for the first time, he could truly relax and discover how tense he had been ever since he arrived here. His legs became al dente noodles and he had to support himself against the wall so he wouldn't fall.

There was a way out. He was going to be okay. In this place with the main entrance wide open, mocking them with its presence, there truly was a way for them to leave this horrifying place. He needed to find his friends and tell them about this good news!

The joy he felt was instantly crushed and the smile melted away.

How could he tell them? They were all stuck here. In different dimensions. Just like Justin said, even if they were at the same place at the right time, there is still no way they could reach each other. So… only he could escape. But he couldn't leave behind Maka and Tsubaki! He couldn't leave the two people who were practically his family! There was no way he would run away and save himself while they were stuck here to rot!

"What is the way out?" Black*Star asked.

Justin snickered and he raised his index finger, swaying it disapprovingly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes! I'm not going to tell you escape and leave me and my friends behind!"

"Relax, you will know after we find Enrique. I won't have you bail on me and leave me all alone at this place. If we want to survive, we need to stick together or else we will both be dead."

He knew he wasn't as smart as Maka or clever like Kid and Soul, but he knew a bad deal when he saw one. Justin was practically chaining him to his side, forcing him to stick together and keep _him_ safe simply so he could discover this "way out" he kept talking about. Justin was simply using him as a shield while he was searching for Enrique.

Fuck. He was backed into a corner. Either he could choose to go his separate way and stumble around unknowing of what was hiding around the corners and what dangers this place contained. Justin… he had gone here multiple times. Justin knew this place inside and out. His experience was invaluable. There simply was one choice. He had to stick close to Justin and as soon as he had learned this way out, he was going to figure a way how to communicate it to the others or jump dimensions or… something.

He _had_ to know the answer!

"Fine. Lead the way."

A wide shit-eating grin grew on Justin's face as if a fly had been caught in his web. "Alright, glad to make business with you, partner."

…

Man… Soul didn't know how to handle this situation at all. Simply dealing with a crying and heartbroken Maka was one thing, but dealing with her silence was worse. While she had bawled her eyes out because of Patty's death and Kid's condition, he couldn't read what she was feeling and thinking as well as before. Even if she didn't want him to be anywhere near her or say something, he knew what was going on. Now, walking in the corridor, a good arm's length of space between them and Maka silent like a graveyard had his skin crawling. The tiniest of gesture he made toward her, the space would grow between them or she would shake off anything he tried to say. When he tried to read her unnervingly neutral face stained with her tears, she would direct her face away from him.

He knew it was risky telling her, but what else could he do? She was adamant at letting Kid stay with them and she wasn't seeing reason. He… he broke her heart. He put their already fragile "friendship"… in fact, he wasn't even sure if they were friends anymore. Acquaintances seemed more fitting. After what happened in the forest, the friendship they had was broken and they simply knew each other. Shared the same friends, but not a word other than the simple talk about school was spoken between them.

They were nothing to each other.

Well, nothing to her, while she was his everything.

Now they had to find some way of working together and staying alive.

So that was what he was doing. Staying quiet and trying not to glance at Maka to see how she was doing, giving her the space she wanted but at the same time remaining close to her. He would lie if he said he wasn't worried about her. With her ability and… it was scary watching her losing herself to the "bad energy" and he didn't want it to happen again.

He gulped as his hands tightened. Whatever she had felt was around him in the nurse's office, it was starting to get to him. He couldn't quite explain it but… every once in a while he would feel as if something was right behind him and once he turned around, there was nothing there. Paranoia was starting to get to him and… he didn't want Maka to carry the tongue bags. If she was caught in the bad energy once she learned they were here because of the charm, he didn't want to know what carrying the tongue bags did to her in her current state. Besides, Maka was starting to get better in sensing the different energies and she had detected it on him once it first hit him, and she wasn't worried now. So it all gave him the clear to keep on carrying them.

They wandered down to the first level in silence. He hadn't a clue where they were going, didn't even bother to ask, he simply followed her wherever she went.

His eyebrow crooked when they went passed the room with the candle inside. The classroom where they had left the note inside. Maka came to a stop when she noticed he had stopped walking. A gesture he appreciated.

There was something about it…

He opened the classroom door and he yelped when two shadow figures were kneeling around the candle and the note. This couldn't be possible. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to focus on his own thoughts, could this be a production of the energy affecting his sanity? He opened his eyes and they were still there.

Cautiously he entered the room and the figures were transfixed in the air as if they were statues of pure darkness. Not even the flickering flame on the candle could eradicate the darkness.

"This is what Keith meant with closed spaces," for the first time, Maka broke the silence, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.

So he wasn't going crazy. They were _real_.

"It's Tsubaki and Liz. I can feel it's them."

"Isn't there something we could do? They are right _there._ "

Maka shook her head. "We can't go into a different closed space. There is nothing we can do."

"Are you sure? You can—"

"No." Maka turned on her heel and she exited.

He hated this. He knew Maka. The Maka he knew would stay here, try to find a way to reach them. Fighting to find them and… fuck. Maybe this place had hit her emotionally too many times and… she had to care. These were their _friends_.

Maka's steps resonated in the corridor and he was torn between staying and going after her. Shit. As much as he wanted to stay, he simply couldn't leave Maka. He tore himself away from the classroom and quickly hurried after Maka. He jogged after her and remained by her side.

They rounded the corner and another shock hit him. They had explored what felt like the whole school, and he was sure in this particular corridor there weren't a large door out before. This wasn't the main entrance and… this door was completely new to them and above the door were a sign saying "Physical education & Arts and craft".

Now when he thought about it, none of the classrooms they had gone inside had neither craft nor sports equipment. Only pictures the students had to have drawn, but that's the extent of it.

He hadn't enough time to ask Maka if they should explore the new-found door, she simply opened the door and to his surprise, the door didn't lead to a hallway or a large hall for sports and craft, but to an outside hallway. The sound of the rain pouring down splattered loudly and the roof over the outside corridor protected them from the rain. Never did he think he would smell the scent of fresh rain and grass. Only now when he smelled the fresh air, he was reminded of how bad the smell was inside. Of moist wood, copper from dried blood and rotten flesh from the corpses.

The wood creaked under their feet as they went to the other building. Maka opened the door and it swung open without any problems. Immediately he was hit with the even more revolting scent of rotten flesh and mildew. This scent was ten times stronger than inside of the main school. This… this made his stomach turn and the little food he had left rose in his throat. He slapped his hands over his mouth to try and still the violent reaction within him.

Maka held her nose as she stepped inside of the building. He swallowed down the protests and covered his nose as he followed her inside.

This building… it was far more different than the main building. Other than the horrible smell, it was a lot more humid than the main building was. Simply being inside of the annex made his skin moist. He ran his foot over the wooden floor and a sort of wooden goo stuck to the tip of his shoe. The place was certainly water damaged and the poor ventilation of this place trapped the bad air inside. Simply breathing this air had to be harmful to their health.

Maka raised her free hand and rubbed her temple as her eyes fluttered shut.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

She didn't answer. Her hand lowered and her eyes open. She was still going to play the silent game.

It was childish. They had established that they needed to be honest with each other and tell each other if something was the matter, and here she was, shutting him out. He could as well be in the main building and she wouldn't even notice. Her hatred for him made her determination stronger and built the wall between them thicker and stronger.

But he wasn't going to crack that easily. He promised himself he would protect her and make sure she got out of this place unharmed.

Maka started to head toward the corridor to the right and Soul dutifully followed her. They found a staircase and Maka came to a stop, pointing at a metal wire that was strung up at the height of their necks. The metal wire was drenched in dried blood and on the wood was a large pile of dried blood. It was clear someone had missed the wire and got their head cut off but… where was the body? From the large pile of blood on the stairs and ground floor… there was no way the person _didn't_ die. He knew they were trapped in a horrifying place with ghosts and all… but a dead body simply couldn't just _move_.

Maka retrieved the wire cutter and she cut the wire so no one could hurt themselves on it again before she put it back in her messenger bag. They were careful to make sure there were no metal wires when the ascended the stairs.

He'd no clue where they were heading, he put his trust in her as he went blindly beside her silently. They wandered through the corridors and sure enough, this annex was used for arts and craft. The hallway was full with statues and vases on pedestals with wilted flowers. On the walls decorated fine art in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours. Some he saw was inspired from the renaissance and some from surrealism. Actually, he recognized that one particular painting with the melted clocks were a famous painting from—

"Soul!" Maka yanked at Souls wrist when he was about to round the corner when the engine of a chainsaw erupted and was an inch away from his nose. "RUN!"

Maka yanked at his arm and they were running when the chainsaw dude rounded the corner. Maka gave him a push as they ran. The loud engine of the chainsaw speeded and the dude's loud steps hurried after them. They ran as quick as they could, Maka easily passing him. As they ran into another corridor, horror washed over him when the wood under his foot broke and he smacked into the floor. Maka halted and her eyes were blown wide open as she looked at him with horror when the man rounded the corner.

Instantly he witnessed the instinct of leaving him behind flash before her very eyes. Soul cursed as he tried to yank at his leg, trying to free it from the broken wood. Panic started to get to him as the steps grew closer and close.

And Maka was still there undecidedly watching as the man with the chainsaw grew closer.

"God damn it run Maka!" Soul screamed at the top of his lungs. "Save yourself!"

The loud cracks of wood behind him caught his attention and he looked over his shoulder, finding the man wielding the chainsaw had broken through the floor as well, but he had sunk through the floor and clung onto the edge. Barely three yard separating them. Soul yelped when the man swatted with his chainsaw at him, chainsaw barely two inches away from his heel.

Warm hands gripped his ankle and Maka was right in front of him, angling his foot at the same time she was furiously hitting the edge around the hole. Her nails dug into the brittle rotten floor and the hole grew wider. Quickly he pulled through his foot and both of them rose to their feet.

The chainsaw man growled loudly as he was making his way up.

"We need to hide!" Maka yelled and grabbed his wrist. They ran around the corner, finding a new stairway and quickly they descended. The chainsaw man was at the top of the stairs when they reached the ground floor and— Maka yanked at his hand as they rounded the stairway, hiding right underneath the stairway. He fell right between her legs and she pulled him close to her chest, covering his mouth.

Cold chills ran down his spine when the floor boards above them dipped when the chainsaw man went down the stairs. Her nails dug into his cheek as her grip tightened on him. The chainsaw man's steps stopped in the mid stairway. He held his breath. His heart hammered in his chest.

Was this the end?

The chainsaw burst through the wood only and inch from his chest. Soul yelped, trashing in Maka's embrace as her arms tightened around him, quietly hushing him down. He swallowed down the panic. The chainsaw was pulled away from the wood. The steps calmly wandered down the last steps and they headed away from them.

Silence laid and Soul allowed himself to relax. He went slack in Maka's arms and she uncovered his mouth.

None of them knew what to say. They simply stayed under the stairway and breathed out, allowing themselves to rejoice in their successful escape from the chainsaw-wielding man. Soul had come far too close. If the deadly man hadn't gone through the floor, he would've been dead. There was not a chance he would've survived.

And Maka had helped him escape.

Even when he had told her to save herself.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Maka was first to break the silence.

"What?" he asked as he looked over his shoulder to look into her eyes.

"The energy influenced you and even though I called your name, you just kept on walking. You almost got yourself killed."

He was taken back in shock. "What do you mean?"

"That you were _willingly_ walking toward him and almost got your head cut off."

"Maka I… I was simply walking beside you and admiring the art."

"No you weren't. You would've walked into his chainsaw if I didn't pull you out of the way."

No… it couldn't be. He was so peaceful. He hadn't felt any change in him and… he certainly didn't feel the bad energy influencing his mind and… was he becoming psychotic? He was starting to have hallucinations and… he was losing his mind.

"Look…" he breathed as he untangled himself from Maka's arms, hunching his back so he wouldn't bump his head into the back of the stair. "I get it. This… _energy_ is messing with my head, but nothing major has happened yet."

Maka snorted. "Nothing _major?_ Oh yeah, because almost getting your head brutally chopped off by a chainsaw isn't a big deal." Maka spat as sarcasm dripped from her mouth.

"You know what I mean. I'm still alive."

"Yes, but it only takes one mistake and you will forever suffer the pain you felt when you died."

His hands rested on the pockets where the two tongue bags and the student ID in his other pocket containing his piece of the paper doll, something that they were supposed to cherish for some reason. The tongues were something they needed to keep… but not knowing _why_. They were carrying a source of this bad energy that had Maka lose her mind and… him too.

Maka sighed as she stretched out her hand and held it out toward him. "It's my turn to carry th—"

"No!" Soul was quick to protest as he dashed from under the stairway. He hissed when pain erupted in his ankle and he fell to the floor.

"Did you hurt yourself?"

Soul nodded, the subject completely lost. "Yeah. I think I must've hurt it when I fell."

"Can you stand up?"

He rose on his feet, carefully putting weight on his hurting foot. There was a jolting pain when he put too much weight on it, but it was bearable. It was a sprained ankle, but he could still walk if he took his time.

"Is it swelling?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"We need to find a place where I can properly take a look at it." Maka's pigtails whipped in her face as she looked in all kinds of directions. Her eyes lit up when she found a desirable subject. "There! There is a sign with _'locker room'_. Surely we can rest there for a while."

Maka led the way and he carefully limped after her in his own pace. Maka held open the door for him while he headed inside.

The locker room was like any other locker room, except this was in style like the other parts of the school: old, abandoned and broken. He took a seat on the nearest bench and Maka was quick to take off her messenger bag and untied his shoelaces, slipping of his shoe. Soul cringed when the smell of sweaty foot hit him and he felt bad for Maka who had her nose only inches away from his foot.

"Relax," Maka spoke as if she could read his mind. "I'm in the track team. I'm used to smelly feet and… I'm used of taking care of sprained ankles."

She slipped his sock off and her delicate hands started to feel up his foot, carefully testing his mobility. He hissed at a particular painful move and she hummed as if she was studying a dead frog she was about to dissect.

"It's a sprained ankle, but it could've been worse. You could've torn ligaments. Wrapping it up will make you feel better."

She pulled out the bandage from her bag and she started to wrap it around his ankle. He bit down on the inside of his cheek when Maka tightened it, working the gauze around his foot. Once she clipped the bandage, he was certain she was finished, but she worked his sock back on and his shoe, and he knew why. She tightened his shoe unbearably tightly to the point she was almost cutting off the blood flow.

"Stop squirming. You're only making it worse."

"Me?" Soul blew a raspberry. "Please, tighten it some more and I'll need to amputate my foot."

"Stop being such a baby. It's going to help you."

Soul tsked when Maka tied a fine ribbon on his shoes and then she pulled up the small zip-lock bag with his medication.

"I don't know if they help numb the pain but…"

Soul held his hands out and she handed him the bag. "They don't, but my brain is pretty much fried and I could use another one to… you know. Relax."

Maka didn't protest. He popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed. He closed the zip bag and Maka put it back in her bag.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Good. Rest for a while." Maka stood back up on her feet. "I can feel a strong source of bad energy is close here. I can't quite tell how many tongues there are but… it's a strong source and it's close."

"Cool. We'll search for them after I've rested up for a bit."

Maka gently shook her head. "No. You rest. It's not far away and if there's something, Just yell and I'll come."

"But we need to stick together."

"Relax. You need to rest your foot and we don't have all the time in the world. It's not a big deal."

He wanted to protest at the top of his lungs. They had already agreed that separating was a bad idea, especially now when the chainsaw wielding man almost got his neck chopped off! They needed each other. _He_ needed her. She… she was helping him anchor his mind where it should be and keeping the bad energy away from him. Her mind was fragile and even though she was really learning how to differentiate the energies and she hadn't come anywhere close to having her mind hijacked but… they just couldn't go their separate ways.

But he knew Maka. Once she made up her mind, there was nothing he could do to change her mind. And now wasn't an exception to the rule.

"Fine. Just… be careful. Don't go too far."

"I won't."

His stomach lurched forward when she turned on her heel and she started to explore the locker room deeper. His hands balled and gripped his pants. The moment Maka was out of his sight he felt his anxiety crawling up his back like serpents. He opened his mouth, ready to call Maka back but his voice was lost. No. He wouldn't call for her.

He was fine.

Maka noted the locker room was in a poor shape, and at the back of it, there was a double door. She pushed it open and it shrieked loudly, leading to a shower room. Along the walls were showerheads and a shelf system mean to put the towels in.

Her mouth was dry and simply seeing the showers had her throat begging to be quenched. She went over to the first shower, turning on the shower. No water came. Not even a drop. But she refused to stop. She tried turning on all the showerheads and it was all in vain. She could only snort. What was this place? Placing water just within their reach, having them watch the rain run down on the window's glass and shower heads present but not giving them the chance to get a hold of even a drop of water.

She didn't know about Soul but… she was thirsty. During the Halloween festival, she had run between the classrooms and made sure all classes' Halloween functions were running smoothly, and she hadn't given herself a break to drink that much. She had planned at the end of the evening once she got home to make a bowl of lemonade to drink while she would study or maybe entertain herself with a book, it was Friday after all.

But for now she had to push that aside. In the air… there was a current of bad energy. Exactly the same she sensed coming from the tongue bags. The current was strong and she knew she would find it soon. The more she focused on the current of bad energy coming from the tongue, it was as if she started walking through mud, physically feeling the stream pushing her backwards, but she persisted.

She went through the shower room and found the exit. The humid air made her hair frizzle as she came inside of a large hall containing a swimming pool. The water was a brown greenish colour and looked absolutely disgusting. No one had to have cleaned the pool in _years_. No wonder the school was as humid and rotten as it was. The pool was the source of it, although, she was surprised at the cheer volume of water still present. It should've already evaporated by now.

She neared the edge of the pool and looked down into the murky water. The dirty water was too thick to see the bottom of it, but considering this was a school for elementary students, it couldn't be that deep.

The current of bad energy vibrated as she rounded the pool carefully not to slip. To her dismay, she sensed the current disappearing inside of the murky water.

The tongue was in the pool.

A sting of curses rang inside of her mind as her hands balled. How in the world would they get a hold of the tongue? They _needed_ it! They… they just couldn't go dive into the pool! Who knew what kinds of stuff were hidden in the water. One thing she knew, the water wasn't that particular of colour for no reason. Something in the water had turned the water to that colour and she didn't want to jump into the pool and risk finding out what _that_ was.

There had to be a switch. There had to be a way of emptying the pool. There had to be a pump room somewhere nearby. If they could find the switch and hoped the system worked, it could empty the pool in minutes and it would make it a whole lot easier to search for the tongues.

But then again, if they drained the pool and it snatched the tongue with it, the tongue was as much as lost. If they drained the pool a little at a time, Maka could sense to make sure the tongue wasn't getting away. Maybe if she could just drain it halfway empty, it would be a lot easier to see what exactly lay hidden in the water. There had to be tools she could use to fish it u—

Maka swiftly turned around when an ominous presence grew stronger. Her skin crawled at the familiarity of the presence. The same presence coming from the tongue bags. The same presence she had felt sneakily tasting Soul's sanity.

"Oh no…" she murmured and was about to hurry back when the man she worried for entered on the other side of the pool. She gasped when she noticed the crimson blood trickling down his hand and dripping from his fingertips. His pocketknife was out and covered in blood. Soul's eyes were hooded and drunk on the bad energy poisoning his mind.

A wide grin spread on his face, threatening to tear the corners' of his cheeks, exposing his razor sharp teeth. His knife guided to his already bloody left palm and he made a cut across the palm, eyes rolling backwards as if… as if he was _enjoying_ it.

"Soul what are you doing?!" Maka exclaimed. "Stop it!"

Ice cold horror grew in her heart when he raised his hand, holding the blade toward his neck.

"No!" she screamed at the top of her lungs and she bolted. She ran as quickly as she could. The knife broke his skin and drew blood. She reached her hand toward him and— in a quick motion, the knife redirected toward his face. He slashed his left cheek when Maka brushed his shoulder. The knife slipped from his hand and clattered on the ground. His legs gave in and he fell.

Right into the pool.

The water splashed onto her legs and skirt and instantly the water had devoured him. She couldn't see him. Only the water rippled from the splash. Panic made her heart speed and before she could think any further, she threw herself into the water, holding her breath. The cool water enveloped her and she reached toward the floor of the pool. Only the stone floor she felt and—! She found him! Her hands found the soft flesh of Soul and his familiar leather jacket. She wrapped her arms around his waist and she pulled, to her surprise, he was stuck. She tugged at him and for some reason, he was stuck. Air was becoming short and she was forced to let go, break through the surface, taking a few breaths of air before she dived again.

Her hands ran up his sides trying to pinpoint where he was stuck. She found his hands and— he was clinging onto something. His hand was tightly holding onto a bag and… it had the same energy she felt coming from the pool. It was the tongue! But it wasn't the only thing holding onto the bag. There was… something squishy and at the same time hard, oh no there was a body!

Her instinct was to catapult away from the hand she found, but she had no choice. She needed to get the corpse away from him. Before she could spend another thought, she forced the corpse's fingers away from the tongue bag. As soon he was freed, she wrapped her arms around his waist and swam to the surface.

She breathed heavily when she broke through. Soul's eyes were closed and his head hung limp. Soul's head rested in the crook of her neck as she backed up toward the pool ladder. Her whole body would shudder once she stumbled onto 'logs' she told herself it was. Carefully she climbed up the ladder, making sure Soul's head was above water.

Once she was up and away from the ladder, she heaved Soul up from the pool.

"Soul," her voice quivered as she shook Soul, trying to arouse a response. But he was nonresponsive. "No. No, no, no, no!" She lowered her head and listened for any sign of breathing as her fingers rested on his neck.

He wasn't breathing!

He had a pulse, but he wasn't breathing!

"No. Don't leave me!" she begged as she tilted his head backwards. She dived for his mouth and blew. Her hands clasped and she started performing compressions. Her sight grew blurry as she blew two times into his mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything I've done," she whimpered as she performed compressions. "I'm so sorry for ignoring you. For pushing you away and for being the worst friend of all time."

She captured his lips and blew before she performed another set of compressions.

This was all her fault! This is all her fault! She should've persisted on taking the tongues from him! She felt the energy from the tongues probing his mind and she allowed it and now he wasn't breathing! He couldn't leave her alone in this place! She was all wrong! All this time she had wanted to be with anyone other than Soul and yet… he was the one who kept her anchored and had her back every step of the way. What a bad friend she was!

Her lips locked with Soul's and she blew air into his mouth and—

Soul tensed and she pulled away right on time when he coughed up water.

"Soul!" she exclaimed with relief as she helped turn his head sideway as he coughed up more water. "Thank goodness you're alive!" She patted his back as he breathed heavily.

"What the fuck happened?"

"You were taken by the madness! You cut yourself and you fell down in the pool and you almost drowned!" Her voice broke and she sobbed. "I thought you had died!"

"You saved me?" he murmured, glancing at her behind his wet bangs slick against his forehead.

"You weren't breathing! Y-you were just…" her lower lip quivered and her hands fisted her skirt.

"Thank you."

Her eyes snapped toward his ruby eyes and now slightly red cheeks. "You know, for saving me."

"You would've done the same for me." She reached out to him and she placed her hand on his shoulder. She exhaled loudly and she blinked the tears away.

A soft smile spread on his face, eyes twinkling as he raised his hand with the tongue bag— _bags_ in his hand.

Simply looking at the bags had her heart speeding and anger making her blood boil. These bags… these tongues, they were beyond dangerous. They had almost gotten Soul killed! They had hurt him— the energy had almost gotten his head chopped off, he had cut himself and hurt his face!

"Give me the bags," Maka said sternly, holding out her hand.

"But Maka—"

"You hand me those bags. Now."

His jaw opened and closed, his hand tightening on the bags. "Maka… I don't know if that's such a good idea—"

"No Soul. I should've done this sooner. The energy coming from the bags has made you _addicted_ to it. It has gotten its hooks sunk into you and forcing you to _want_ it. You hand me those bags right now or I swear I'll make you regret it."

Soul went quiet. Slowly his arm shook as he held his arm out for her. His jaw was tense as she roughly took the bags from his hand. It was hard for him to part with the tongues. He almost reached forward to take them back when he balled his hands.

He hissed as he raised his other hand. New fresh blood poured from his wounds on his arm and hand. She hadn't gotten a closer look on his arm, but it looked worse up close. There were at least fifteen cuts pouring out blood on his wrist, at least she could relax knowing none of them had gone along the vein. On his palm were two larger cuts and on the back of his hand were three cuts.

"We need to patch you up." She put the tongue bags away in her bag and she stood up. "Are you well enough to stand?"

"Yeah." Slowly he stood up.

They headed toward the locker room, on the way Soul found his pocket knife he had dropped. He retrieved it and pocketed. Once inside of the locker room, Soul had taken a seat on a bench by the lockers and Maka had retrieved the rubbing alcohol, pack of tissues and the roll of bandage, placing it on the bench beside him. She kneeled in front of him as Soul carefully shrugged off his leather jacket.

Her breath was lost when she was acquainted with Soul's _wet_ white buttoned shirt. It was slick against his skin and enhanced the well-toned body she _knew_ laid hidden under his clothes. Her throat ran dry as she tried to look _anywhere_ except for his abs and his toned pecks.

Her hand settled on his thigh and wandered it up toward his pocket. Her hand caught Soul's attention and it followed her fingers snake inside of his pocket, retrieving the two bags of tongues they had found earlier. She put them inside of her bag before Soul could have a chance to protest.

But he didn't. His arms were tense and so was his jaw, but he focused on rolling up his shirt instead. She wet a tissue with the rubbing alcohol and she started to clean his wounds. He hissed as she as gently as she could, dabbed the tissue on his wounds.

"I must apologize to you," Maka broke the silence. "I should've been more persistent. If I had been more stubborn and taken the tongues from you, you wouldn't have almost drowned yourself."

"It's cool."

"Oh stop it. Don't brush it aside. It's _your life_ we're talking about and… I couldn't live with myself knowing because I chose to brush the warnings aside you had been killed because of it." She gently shook her head. "It's my fault."

"I mean it when I say I'm cool with it."

"You shouldn't."

"But I am because you saved me. Twice. If it weren't for you, I would've been killed by the chainsaw man or drowned myself."

"I could've also avoided all of it if I had taken those tongue bags from you quicker."

Soul blew a raspberry. "And let you be the one who got your head chopped off or drowned? I don't think so."

"We don't know that." Maka snapped her head up to look into his eyes. "Besides, I'm the reason why we're all trapped here. I'm the reason Patty is…" her voice faltered and she tightly squeezed shut her eyes.

"Hey…" With his unharmed hand he reached out and touched her shoulder, running his thumb soothingly over her collarbone. "You didn't know this would happen and we will get out of here alive. We're not going to die here."

His hand on her did more to her than she thought it would. Her body grew warm and her skin tingled underneath his hand. She grabbed a hold of it and gave it an appreciative squeeze. "I hope so. Otherwise I'll be tormented with the regret for eternity."

She breathed shakily as she pulled her hand away from his and finished cleaning his hand. She wrapped the bandage around his hand and clipped it. She wet a new tissue with the rubbing alcohol and she took a seat on the bench beside him. Carefully she cleaned his wound.

Soul's red eyes stared into hers and butterflies hatched in her stomach, spreading their winds and flying. He was beautiful. Had always been incredibly handsome. Nobody with eyes and a sexual orientation directed toward the male sex could see he was attractive. All the girls who flirted and asked him out reinforced the fact he was hot, desirable and he could have any girl he wanted.

She swallowed heavily. She didn't like Soul like that. He was a dear friend she treasured and she found him attractive, but… there was no way there could be something _more_. Not that she actually wanted something more.

"Your cut is deep," she whispered.

"Is it?"

Maka nodded. "It would be the best if we could close it."

"Alright, do you have any tape on you?"

"No… but…" She threw the used tissue aside and she opened up her bag. Soul's eyes almost bulged out from their sockets when she retrieved the metal wire and the cutter.

"No way. You aren't— you're _not_ thinking of _stitching_ me up with metal wire?"

"If I can just make two stitches it will be enough to somewhat keep it together."

"How do you know? You've— you _don't_ have the qualifications."

Maka rolled her eyes. "And you and Black*Star don't have the proper education to make fire crackers safely. Your point?"

"That's different. You're thinking of stitching my face up with _thick_ metal wire!"

"It's not _that_ thick. Look, I'll cut the tip pointier and it will practically become a needle. It will be fine."

Soul grimaced and his nose wrinkled. "Is it _really_ necessary?"

"Yes. The wound is gaping open. I've cleaned it but with all the bacteria here, it's a high risk it will get infected."

His eyes fluttered shut and eventually he nodded. "Alright. Fine. Do it, but only two stitches!"

"Only two stitches." Maka clipped the tip of the wire. She dosed the metal wire in rubbing alcohol before she held the tip of the wire toward the wound. The tip of the wire rested against his skin and she put a little more pressure.

Soul hissed and he jolted away. "No, no, no, no. No. I can't do it. I would rather it get infected than having that shit on my face."

Maka rolled her eyes. "Suck it up. It's just going to hurt for like… two seconds. You'll survive."

"No, nope. I refuse. I'm not doing it."

"Alright fine. But don't come to me and whine when you get sick." She started to pack the equipment back in the bag. She closed the lid and placed the bag on the bench.

"Man, we're both soaked to the bone." Soul rubbed his hands over his biceps, trying to regain some heat. "We need to get out of these wet clothes and let them dry off at least a little."

Maka blew a raspberry. "Yeah right. And walk around nude and have the chainsaw man chase us around in our underwear?"

Soul rolled his eyes. "Nah, we'll just hide." Soul nodded toward a direction. "There's a broom closet. We could always hide in there while our clothes are drying off in the lockers."

Maka raised her eyebrow. "You're kidding? Us sharing a broom closet in our underwear?"

Soul shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, you can take the broom closet. I can stay outside and if I hear something remotely suspicious, I'll squeeze myself into a locker. That's good?"

Maka's throat ran dry and her lips tightened. "Fine. Just because I want to get out of these soaked clothes and finally get somewhat dry."

Her eyes rolled into her skull when Soul victoriously grinned. She grabbed her bag and headed over to the broom locker. She opened it up and found a broom, buckets and old cleaning supplies. She dumped all the items into a free locker before she slid inside of the broom closet. It was larger than she originally thought, but it was still very snug as she wormed out of her clothes, leaving her in only her underwear and bra. Soul grabbed her clothes once she held them out of the broom closet and the locker shrieked as he placed them in the locker.

She rubbed her arms as she tried to regain some heat, hearing Soul's clothes rustle as he took off his belt and slid his pants off. Her breath was lost as the clothes loudly plopped against the metal of the locker.

"Remember to hang it up or else it won't dry," Maka spoke.

Soul chuckled. "Yeah, yeah."

She shook her head slowly is disagreement, but she couldn't wipe off her smile at his playful tone.

But she couldn't help but feel bad. There she was, safely tucked away inside of the broom closet to dry off. With the space so small, she could easily gain back her heat and… it was big enough to fit both of them. He had already been through enough and he had taken the bullet and sacrificed himself for her modesty. He had put all inconveniences aside. For her. And… she couldn't be selfish.

"Get inside."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. I can't take hearing you freeze. Come inside and get warm."

Soul went quiet. "You're cool with that?"

"Then I wouldn't have asked. Come and get here. It's big enough for both of us."

Soul's steps came closer until the double doors opened and there he stood. Half naked only in his boxers. Oh dear, they were _white_. She swallowed down heavily as she crossed her arms over her chest.

The broom closet had been big enough for one person, but trying to fit another one grew hard and still trying to remain some space. Their shoulders were tightly pressed together and she was uncomfortably pushed to the wall. Soul had a hard time to fit his legs inside and they cursed and struggled to find a comfortable position. The best position they could find was… certainly closer than she had hoped for, him leaning against the wall with her resting her back against his chest between his legs.

It was endearing. His hard muscles pressed against her back and his soft warm skin wrapped around her. His hairy legs teased her skin and left goosebumps. His warm breath hit her neck for every breath he took.

This moment took her right back to the forest right before summer break. Pressed against Soul and his breath hitting her lips and… they had been so close. She had been whisked away by the mouth-watering scent of his deodorant and how incredibly good it had felt to be in his arms.

It was the same now. Feeling his soft warm skin had her stomach clenching and her mind running hazy. She liked this. Liked feeling his skin against hers and… _him_. She was painfully attractive to him and now when they were half-naked and hidden away in the broom closet together, temporarily safe from all the dangers. Almost losing him time and time again. She… they might die here. And the pull toward him was still strong and enchanting. Maybe even stronger considering the situation they found themselves in. She wanted him.

She truly wanted him.

She tilted her head toward the side and Soul angled his head to somewhat look at her through the darkness of the closet.

"Is something wrong?" Soul asked worriedly.

Her heart swelled at his concern. Always concerned of her well-being and always persistent of looking out for her even when it came at his own cost. She rested her forehead against his, feeling his breath hitting her lips. With one quick move, she closed the space and she planted a kiss. Her heart fluttered when Soul kissed her back, his fingers found her forearm and brushed her moist skin. Their mouths started to move, lips smacking and panting heavily. His hands travelled up her arms, cupping her cheek and his other arm wrapped around her waist. She was completely lost in the intoxicating taste of his lips.

How she had wanted this. Always intrigued how it would feel like to kiss him taste his lips. There were more times than not when she found herself staring at his lips, wondering how his teeth would feel nipping at the sensitive skin of her neck.

And she was going to find out.

She breathed heavily as she pulled away, backpedalling out from his arms to face him. Her lips pulsed from his attention.

"Are you going to run away again?" His voice was fragile. A blast from the past when his lips had barely brushed hers and she had jolted away, Soul trying to collect himself to say anything.

But this time, she wasn't running away.

She leaned forward, lips meeting in a heated kiss. Lips slanted as his bent knees lowered and she crawled up his lap.


	13. Tsubaki Nakatsukasa

Chapter 13

_Tsubaki Nakatsukasa_

It hurt. Tsubaki's heart ached as she headed down the corridor in pursuit of Medusa Gorgon's office. She knew it wouldn't be easy parting from Liz and heading their separate ways, but she kept telling herself it was for the best. Her gut told her wherever she was heading, she was heading in the right direction. Once they discovered the secret behind Gallows Elementary School, they would discover a way for them to leave unharmed. If they knew and understood it better, they could figure the situation out and leave this place. She was ready to uncover the school's secret so she could use it against this place. She didn't blame Liz for being scared, she was too, but what separated them apart was Liz was a survivor and she was ready to run away from the danger and hide, while she was ready to fight for the reward. Her eyes were set and her goal was Medusa Gorgon's office.

She was going to find the secret out, find Black*Star and tell him how she felt. She was ready to open her heart and offer it to him, if he wanted it. Being in this situation, she wished she had done it sooner. If she didn't find him and something happened to him… she didn't know what to do. Black*Star could be dead by now, but he simply couldn't! Black*Star was strong. He knew martial art. He knew how to protect himself. He was alright. She knew it. Wherever in the school he was, he was okay.

It was hard for her to find Medusa Gorgon's office. She sought for the office on the second level and she found the teacher's wing, but none of them seemed to belong to a Miss Medusa Gorgon. Other names were on the decaying and old plates. She continued her search on the third level but none was found. She descended down to the ground level and that's when she found another cluster of offices by the stairway.

It was a small nook with six doors on either side. They would've most likely passed it, not caring to look inside of those particular rooms. She checked the name plates on the door and… there was she. Miss Medusa Gorgon: biology and science teacher.

She had reached out toward the door handle when she had flinched away. She didn't know what it was but… there was a _strange_ sensation presence. Chills ran down her neck to her spine and the hairs on her arm stood at attention. Somehow… her body was in alert but… the ghost children weren't anywhere near her. Why was she reacting so strongly?

Her throat ran dry and she took a deep breath of courage. As she exhaled, she grabbed the handle and the door slid open.

There wasn't anything special. Nothing stood out from the rest of the school. The desk was dusty and the chair was tumbled over. Books were scattered on the ground by the bookcase and the ones who had managed to survive passed the earthquakes, either laid down on the shelves or leaned against the stack.

The floor creaked as she headed inside of the office. Chills ran down her arms and she crossed them above her chest. Somehow, this room seemed colder than the other parts of the school. She quivered and her stomach turned simply being inside of this place. There were no extra mildew or more dust than in the other rooms, or maybe all the dirt had finally started to get to her?

The room was getting to her. Something was wrong with the room, she knew it, but she didn't know exactly what. There was something special with the office and she knew it had to do with Miss Medusa Gorgon.

On the desk were a journal and a stack of newspapers. As soon as she set sight on the newspapers, she dived for them and placed her folder containing the missing children reports and the faculty members' names and she unfolded the top newspaper. With big bold letters it said _'CHILD-KILLER FOUND'_ and there was a picture of a man with short hair and piercings in the ears and one on the bridge of the nose.

She read the article.

_The mysterious disappearance of the elementary students at Gallows Elementary School has been solved. The police got an anonymous tip about a man being seen around children late at nights. The police observed the man and caught him when he was about to kidnap the child. The man is Giriko Makyooki who worked at Gallows Elementary School as a janitor. He is now in custody and the trial will be held within two months._

Her hands balled as she looked at the man's face; the disgusting face of the one who kidnapped so many children and murdered them. She hated this man.

She grabbed the next newspaper and started to read it.

_The trial against Mr. Giriko Makyooki started. He denies all accusations against him, blaming an innocent teacher who has presented her alibi, which the court has acknowledged and declared her innocent. Mr. Giriko Makyooki is guilty of 83 counts of child kidnapping and 83 counts of first-degree murder. Mr. Giriko Makyooki is sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. He will be transported to state prison._

Giriko deserved worse than life imprisonment. He deserved to be treated just the same like those children were. He didn't deserve to take another breath. But… life in prison might just be good for him. In prison, he could be harassed and assaulted and battered by other inmates and he could suffer the same as those kids were. If she could, she wanted to visit his cell with a bucket of acid and throw it on him.

She grabbed another news-paper and she read it.

_HISTORY'S MOST DANGEROUS SERIAL-KILLER IS RUNNING LOSE!_

_It was the dangerous child-killer Giriko Makyooki who escaped from his transport from jail to state prison the state prison reports. He is now running free and police has been alerted. The authorities recommend all citizens stay inside and lock their windows and doors, not opening them for anyone. If anyone sees Giriko Makyooki, call the authorities and stay away. The man is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs._

The article went on with safety precautions the citizens could take and gave the location where Giriko had broken free from the transportation. The news-paper recommended everybody within the immediate near are to stay inside and kids to stay close to their parents or guardians.

Her blood was boiling at the thought of him escaping from his sentence and his horrible life in prison.

She grabbed the last news-paper and read it.

_GIRIKO STRIKES AGAIN!_

_Another murder at Gallows Elementary School has taken place! This time, the victim is Miss Medusa Gorgon who taught biology and science at the school, and the victim of Giriko Makyooki's accusations. The police are undergoing an investigation about the cause behind Miss Medusa Gorgon's death. The police released a statement saying no evidence has been found to tie Giriko Makyooki to Miss Medusa Gorgon. Her death is now classified as an accident due to the bad stairway in the school._

Her gut feeling told her this wasn't an accident. There simply couldn't be. Giriko had been running free and someone fell down the stairs? Simply listening to Maka's story, it had sounded like a tragic accident, now knowing of the killer and the disappearance of almost a hundred children, everything that happened in Gallows Elementary School wasn't an accident. This couldn't have been an accident. She was sure of it. Something had happened to Miss Medusa Gorgon and she was sure Giriko was behind it.

Tsubaki moved on to the journal placed on the desk. She opened it and immediately she was confused. She was quite clever, but this stuff she couldn't understand. It was… a lot of anatomy and science and biology and… math? But she couldn't quite understand it. There were drawing of bodies and biology notes on the parts it pointed at. It could've been passed off as a typical journal with biology notes in it but… something wasn't quite _biology_ about it. It was hard for her to understand the equations and… whatever the notes actually strived for. There were notes of experiments, but no notes explaining what was going on. If Maka had been there, she would surely understand what this was all about.

But… these notes weren't important. They were simply _notes_. Nothing explaining about the murdered kids or Giriko or… it simply wasn't important.

There simply had to be more inside of here. There had to be more stuff here or… was she supposed to find where Giriko had his office or… broom closet or wherever Giriko were when he worked at Gallows.

She was going to finish go through the office before she would head to Giriko's room.

She started pulling out drawers and… there weren't anything special. Pencils, notebooks, homework and a small anatomy doll. Nothing stood out. Until she reached the top drawer on the right side.

Her eyebrow rose questionably as she stared at a stuffed white rabbit. A child must've loved it dearly since it was quite worn out. The floppy ears were worn and the hairs had been worn down to the fabric. It was quite dirty and hadn't gotten a proper wash in a long time. Some child must've loved it a lot. But why was it here? Did Miss Medusa Gorgon possibly have a child?

Beside the rabbit was a brown back with a red stain. Blood…? She picked the bag up and held it up toward the light and a black shadow surrounded the item inside of the bag. She raised her eyebrow questioningly as she opened the bag. She gasped and it slipped from her hands and fell back into the drawer.

T-t-there was a tongue! A-a _severed tongue!_ Why in the world would there be a severed tongue? And why in a bag by the children's stuffed animal?

Why in the world would Miss Medusa Gorgon save a severed tongue?

It was disgusting. It concerned her of how _small_ the tongue was and… it couldn't be. This place was twisted but… cutting off _a child's_ tongue was crossing a line. It was absolutely horrifying and it was the horrifying truth she had a hard time swallowing. Seeing murderous children going after them to try to kill anyone alive and learning of this place and the Gallows Elementary School's past. Simply looking at the tongue resting in the drawer… it was hard to realize that someone had taken a child's tongue… alive or dead… it was wrong. Torturing a child or defiling a corpse like that… it sickened her! The child wasn't allowed to rest in peace.

She pushed the drawer back and tears welled up in her eyes. A tear left her eye, mourning for the child who lost their tongue.

Her head snapped toward the door when she started to hear the sound of gurgling. Panic settled in her gut and her alert system was going on full volume. Quickly she scanned for a place to hide in and she found a closet. She hurried over, found coats and other outdoor wear in it. She squeezed inside, closed the door.

The familiar sound of the gurgling ghost girls entered the office. Tsubaki entwined her hands, silently begging for them not to find her.

…

What had she been thinking? Liz questioned herself as she paced back and forth in classroom 2-6. She had let Tsubaki walk away in order to pursuit something dangerous. A path the mysterious woman had confirmed wouldn't lead anywhere close to a means of escaping this place. Only helping _someone_ they didn't know.

In this horrifying place. Tsubaki was _all alone_ wandering down a dangerous path and… maybe she wouldn't see her again. Gallows Elementary School was a hunting ground for the supernatural to hunt them as if they were preys. Liz had only managed to survive because Tsubaki had been by her side, quick on her feet and putting her safety before her own. And what had she done? Abandoned her for the illusion of safety.

Tsubaki had a point. If they didn't risk it all, they couldn't win it all. If they didn't put anything at stake, they could never learn a way to get out of here. A solution wouldn't wander up to them and present itself. They had to do the work and find it themselves. Just like she and Patty had done on the streets. They risked it all in order to get their hands on a free gun, put their health on the line when they crossed the wrong people and robbed innocent people at gunpoint. She had survived through all of that. She was tough but in this place, she had turned to nothing but a serious case of dead weight. Tsubaki had carried her, comforted her and did everything she could in order for _her_ to feel better while she was left to silently handling her own problems.

She could only snort. No wonder she had wanted to find Black*Star. She loved him but… she could be a good partner in this horrible place too. She just… it was a mistake to leave her.

She was going to find Tsubaki and apologize for everything she had done wrong and from now on, she was going to gamble. She was going to gamble hard in order to win it all. She knew how to work the system and cheat and manipulate anyone in order for her to get exactly what she wanted.

It was time for her to become Elizabeth Thompson: the Brooklyn Devil once again.

With her new resolve and courage running through her veins, she exited the classroom and she started to search for her friend. She knew she would head to Miss Medusa Gorgon's office, but where was it? And maybe she had already been there and gone searching for a new place. But she had to try. She _had_ to find her.

She had to apologize for letting her own hurt feelings cloud her judgement of how insane the thought was to part their ways in this dangerous place. Her experience living on the street well-reminded her how important it was to be two rather than one. Without Patty by her side, she wouldn't have made it. Just like it is right now. Without Tsubaki by her side, they were both done for it.

So she was going to correct her mistake. She was going to find her and she was going to acknowledge Tsubaki's desire to continue her search and her feelings for Black*Star, and at the same time, she would reveal her own feelings for her, knowing she didn't feel the same way. And it was okay. They would still be friends and it was all that mattered.

She headed down the corridors in search of Miss Medusa Gorgon's office. She wandered through the halls in search for Tsubaki. She listened for her footsteps or her voice or… the ghost children. After searching the floor she came to the conclusion she wasn't on the level. She headed downstairs and went around on the ground floor. She peeked inside of the classroom where they had found Soul and Maka's note, but there were no real changes. Frustration started to get to her. She should've found Tsubaki by now.

Or else… she knew there were dimensions of the same school but she couldn't have gone to another one simply because they separated? No. She still had to be within this space. There was no other option. Somewhere in this school, Tsubaki were here investigating the problem—

A loud pitched scream broke the silence. All the hairs on her body stood out as goose bumps spread on her skin and immediately she was on her toes.

It was Tsubaki.

She ran in the direction of her voice. She pumped her arms as she ran as fast as she could. She skidded around the corners and Tsubaki's voice painfully resonated within the school's walls. Tsubaki's cries resonated and her stomach grew heavy.

She skidded into a tiny nook with a few doors. Her cries were loud and she quickly skidded to a halt right by the door. Through the open door blue light spilled out and casted a blue glow against the floor and wall. The uneasy feeling in her gut tripled when she realized _why_ she was screaming.

The ghost children had found her.

On unsteady legs she neared the door and she peaked inside.

Blood was running down from Tsubaki's hairline and her hair was all messy as the ghost girl missing an eye straddled her lap… Tsugumi had her hands high as if they were claws. The ghost girl with guts hanging out of her abdomen, Anya, grabbed Tsubaki's ponytail and she screamed in pain. Strands of hair got pulled out of their roots and pieces of her scalp followed. Anya ripped the scrunchie from her hair mixed with hair stands and pieces from her scalp, tossing it aside.

Her breath was lost as she watched the ghost children abuse her. Hurt her in every way possible. Hands would claw in her mouth and nails would dig into her soft skin.

And there was nothing she could do but watch.

"Liz help me!" Tsubaki begged, reaching her hand out toward her. Eyes blown wide and fear clear in her eyes.

She was paralyzed.

Transfixed on the spot as the ghosts lifted up Tsubaki in the air. Chocking sounds left her mouth as her legs kicked, trying to find leverage. Her hands clawed at her neck as if there was an invisible hand. The three girls giggled and cooed happily as Tsubaki's face slowly drained of colour and turned blue.

Tsubaki's neck grew smaller and blood started to rise from her mouth and trickled down her chin and down her neck. The veins in her eyes popped and tears of blood ran down her cheeks. Her neck shrunk to half the size and… her windpipes were being crushed. Her face was stained in her blood and an audible crack made every muscle in her body tense. Tsubaki's arms fell down to their sides and her legs relaxed. Only the phantom of the live she had merely moments ago fresh in her eyes as she hung in the air.

The three ghost girls giggled loudly, gurgling as Tsubaki's body fell down and banged when she hit the floor, eyes staring into nothingness.

She couldn't believe it. There was no way. Tsubaki had… she was… she had—

The three girls had killed her.

The fear, shock and anger bubbled to the surface and shattered her paralysation.

She let out a loud scream of anger.

The three ghost girls turned toward them, eyes gleaming with joy as they faced her fully.


	14. Peekaboo

Chapter 14

_Peekaboo_

Black*Star didn't trust Justin for one second. There was something… off, about him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Justin's fingers repeatedly twitched and so did his neck. Man, he had only seen nutcases with chronic psychotic disorders twitch like that when they headed into a psychotic episode. His mother worked at the forensic psychiatric care where killers and rapist served their sentence. She had taught him a lot of chronic psychotic disorders and other psychiatric illnesses and taught him how to deal with them. He had already decided he wanted to work at the forensic psychiatric care, dealing with criminals with psychiatric disorders. He could run into his mother's former patients when they were shopping for groceries and when he was out at night he could run into them when they were frying their brains from the psychosis and going ballistic, punching the ground, walls and if _anyone_ gained their attention, you would turn into their punching bag. There was nothing stopping a sick person in a psychotic episode.

But Justin was too calm and collected to be heading into a psychosis. He was sure Justin didn't have any sort of schizophrenia, but… there was definitely something unnerving about him.

The deal keeping them together was one of his biggest concerns. He _needed_ the answers. He desperately needed it so he, Tsubaki, Maka and his other friends could get the hell away from there. This dude was intelligent and experienced and he needed to squeeze out all the knowledge he possessed. He knew as soon as he learned of the way out, he was going to get the hell away from him.

He didn't say anything. He knew she should ask more about this place and all the experience Justin had, but for some reason he kept quiet, sensing it was better to mind his own business. For now. He had seen people who talked to psychotic people and they always ended up with their face battered to the point their face was completely deranged.

So he kept quiet.

Justin went two steps in front of him, he made sure a good arm's length was between them at all costs. He had tried to make it discreet, but who was he kidding. He knew Justin knew he didn't trust him and he had put up safety precautions.

In silence they went through the corridors, occasionally looking inside of the classrooms or other spaces in search for Enrique. It seemed like they would never find him, if he even was real. He knew there were dangers. There were metal wires set up and he still didn't know about these ghost children and man with a chainsaw Maka and Tsubaki had warned about. It was a mystery and he begged to not run into them.

He was starting to grow tired of simply walking around and around. Teaming up with Justin was starting to look like a waste of his time and energy. Every second he was with Justin he could go and look for Maka and Tsubaki, but here he was with a twitching asshole of a jerkface.

They had wandered around in a circle because when they reached the same spot where he had noticed the body with the severed head and the metal wire strung up on the stairway and wall, the body was gone. A boy couldn't simply stand up and wander away. The student had surely been dead. Nobody could survive without a head. Could… maybe she had turned into a zombie and had started to wander around.

Justin must've noticed his questioning glance toward the spot where the student's body had been. "Don't even bother. Some of the bodies are moved to somewhere else."

He cocked his eyebrow at Justin. "Why?"

He shrugged his shoulder. "Don't know. All I know is Giriko grabs the bodies and he takes them somewhere, but we don't know. We haven't found the place where he takes them yet. It surely is a secret place."

Secret place? This whole school was a goddamned secret place! With nowhere to run in this cursed place, there surely couldn't be _more?_

"What do you mean more?"

"That's what we have been trying to figure out. We have made some research about Gallows Elementary School's structure and before these buildings were converted into a school, it was a military academy and there was some kind of underground system. When they rebuild the buildings, they must've filled in the underground system, but that can't be the whole story. There is an underground system and we've tried to find it but we haven't been able to find it yet."

It was crazy. An underground system? This school was big enough and… _an underground system?_ That shit was just crazy!

"Why in hell would there be an underground system?"

"For the soldiers to escape the buildings if the enemy were to barge in on them, of course. They acted as a mean of escaping if necessary and of course it served the purpose of a bunker too."

"Why weren't they used when they converted it into a school?"

"Because the bunkers were in a bad condition. There was a lot of mildew and the ventilation simply wasn't working. It was practically a huge health violation and instead of putting in the money and time of fixing them, they chose to save their money by close the entrances and ventilation off and seal them away so no children could find it and get lost."

It was a crazy idea. The idea of an underground system on top of this creepy as place made his skin crawl. Simply being over the ground was scary, but being _below_ has his courage run low.

He was about to open his mouth and question Justin when a double door caught his attention. On the doors were… he had seen Maka draw those kinds of papers before. They were the size of bookmarks with a red frame and in the middle were signs he knew was Japanese. He had seen Tsubaki and Maka pass notes and written them in Japanese so nobody could know what they were writing. The papers were glued up on the doors as if they plastered the doors shut. On time, Maka had been writing on that kind of paper at the end of the class. He had been on his way to a competition in martial art and she had given it to him, saying it was… a charm? Yeah, it was a charm and it would give him luck, of course he didn't need any charm or luck, he had beaten his opponent into a pulp and won! HA!

But… these charms on the door doesn't look that lucky or bringers of fortune. Quite the opposite. They looked… evil.

"What's that about?" Black*Star asked, nodding toward the door.

Justin casted a glance before he brushed it away. "Nothing really. Once Tezca was caught by the madness and was killed, I made sure to seal him away so he wouldn't hurt anyone else."

He hadn't run into any of the evil spirits or Giriko, and he wanted to avoid that as long as possible. All he wanted as to find the way out and find his friends so they could all get the hell away from here.

They headed down the corridor and Justin's head twisted, eyes alerted. Black*Star raised his eyebrow as Justin hurried toward a classroom. He was about to question what the hell Justin was doing when he ripped the doors open and there pressed against the door was a man. Dark hair and chocolate brown eyes and by his side was a messenger bag and camera in his hand.

This must be Enrique.

Joy swelled. Now he would find out what the way out was and he would be free from Justin. No longer would he have to watch his steps around Justin and—

His train of thoughts were immediately interrupted when Enrique let out a cry of horror. Face twisted in fear as he stared at Justin, crawling away from him as Justin came closer. Enrique behaved as if he had seen a ghost and not his friend.

"Stay away from me, y-you monster!" Enrique screamed at the top of his lungs. The camcorder he had held in his hand slipped and fell to the floor as he tried to grow the space between them.

Before Black*Star could question what was going on, Justin had pulled out a knife from the waistband of his pants and threateningly held it in his hand. He could barely believe it as Enrique backed into a fallen desk, breathing became irregular as Justin towered over him. He stood paralyzed as Enrique gave out a loud cry of fear as Justin stabbed the knife in Enrique's neck. Blood splashed from his neck and immediately soaked Enrique's shirt.

He had just witnessed a murder.

Justin turned his head toward him, some drops of blood splattered on his cheek and the gleam of bloodlust in his eyes. The hidden agenda he had only sensed before was now in the open. Justin wanted to kill him. Had hold back the lust and now when he had murdered his friend, now _he_ was Justin's next target.

"My, my, my, you seem shocked," Justin smirked wide as if he was overjoyed by his kill. "Ahhhh, it had felt wonderful driving your face into the corpse and now…" he raised the knife and his tongue liked the blade, savouring the taste of blood. "I'll surely enjoy watching you die."

His breath was lost as terror ran through his veins, but he had sense enough to plan ahead. Not knowing if the risk would pay off, he lunges for the camcorder and the messenger bag, dodging Justin's knife going right over his head. He bolted out of the room, slamming the door shut in the process.

He sprinted down the corridor, not daring to look behind his shoulder as he heard the door banging open.

Justin's laughter ran through the corridor as he followed. "Run little star, run!"

He ran for dear life. Dared to cast a glance behind his shoulder and found Justin simply _walking_. Surely he must be _enjoying_ this hunt. That was what he had been doing. He had been keeping him around while he hunted Enrique, keeping him around for his next target. For his next prey to hunt.

He ran up the stairs, tiptoeing around the school as he heard Justin's steps, slowly following him, calling for him as if it was a game of hide and seek.

It was hard to focus, knowing where he should seek cover and hide from Justin. He only had one shot at finding a hiding place. Justin had a strong sense of seeking and finding, and if he chose to hide at the wrong place, he would be done for it.

Black*Star bit his lower lip as he threw the messenger bag over his shoulder. Justin was slow and that gave him some time to breathe, all he needed to do was keep on moving as he decided—

He let out a gasp when from around the corner in front of him was a large man with long brown gloves and the most terrifying chainsaw with blood on it.

He cursed loudly as he swiftly turned around, hearing Justin coming closer before he came around the corner. His head whipped in the direction of the chainsaw man and Justin, looking back and forth as if he was about to pick his poison, or rather, get stabbed by a knife or a chainsaw.

No, he wouldn't die.

He still had Tsubaki and Maka to return to.

Before he could think further, be stomped repeatedly on the ground. The floor boards started to bulge, the soft wood breaking from every stomp of his foot. The wood cracked and he repeatedly stomped his foot as the two men came closer to him. The floorboards broken and he kicked the edges, making the hole grow wider. Before he could think, he jumped down into the whole and when he hit the ground, he made a skilful roll. He casted a look over his shoulder and saw Justin kneeling by the hole.

Holy. Shit.

He bolted when Justin jumped down the hole. He pumped his arms as he skidded around the corner. Before Justin could catch up or the god damned big dude with chainsaw, he snuck inside the first classroom around the corner.

His throat ran dry when he was met by a lot of costumes of different sizes. Quickly he hurried over to the closet and costumes poured out. Without bothering to throw the costumes out, he crammed himself into the closet, but didn't manage to close it fully. There was a crack he could look out at the door.

His heart hammered in his chest as he looked out of crack. Justin's footsteps rung in the corridor. His footsteps grew more hurriedly and another pair grew louder. The door slammed open and he witnessed Justin haste inside as he banged the door shut.

His breath was lost as he watched Justin pound his back against the door. The door bulged as the man on the other side tried to force it open. Justin grunted as he put his whole weight against the door. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut as he gave out a yell of exhau—

Out from his abdomen erupted the chainsaw, roaring loudly as blood went flying and flesh hung out and fell to the ground. His eyes were blown wide as he slowly looked down at the chainsaw sawing his insides apart. The chainsaw was ripped out of him and his eyes rolled behind his head. The knife slipped from his hand as he fell down on the ground and blood pooled underneath him. The door was slammed open, not an ounce of any regard for the corpse on the floor. The door smacked into the body and the man hovered over him, looking down at him before he kneeled down, heaved the body on his shoulder before he turned on his heel and leaving.

Black*Star held his breath, sinking down against the wall of the closet, exhaling shakily. His eyes fluttered shut and his hands shook madly. His hands entwined in a poor attempt to stop the shakes, but he couldn't. The sound of the chainsaw cutting through flesh and the images of blood splattering and the sound of the body hitting the ground. All the pictures flashed before his eyes and… he couldn't look away. Couldn't think of anything else. Couldn't _do_ anything else. He was a prisoner of his own mind, forcing him to stare at the images of the murder he had witnessed. Even if he didn't care of the dude, it was… tough. He… as much as he tried to violently throw his thoughts away from what happened, Justin's face would slowly fade away and his face would take its place. Now… he couldn't stop but see the chainsaw going through his stomach and him falling down on the ground dead.

His knees quivered and his shaky hands ran through his hair. He rested his head between his legs, trying to focus on the one fundamental function he couldn't escape from: his breathing. He focused on it. Taking long and deep breaths, holding it in for a couple of seconds before he would let it out, taking all the time he needed. It was difficult even though it was ridiculous! Breathing shouldn't be hard! Breathing was the most natural thing that existed! Breathing is the essence of life, proof that he was still alive and _not_ Justin being carried away by that man. He was well and… HE WAS GOD AND GODS DON'T KNEEL TO DEATH! HE WAS IMMORTAL!

He bit his lower lip and he silenced the cry as tears welled up in his eyes.

He wasn't immortal. He was very much mortal. Blood ran through his veins and his body depended on it and his beating heart. Without it and several other functioning organs in his body he didn't know which he needed and Maka would scold him for not paying enough attention in class but that wasn't the point! He had flaws. His body was one of a mere human. A body that would slowly decay and he would meet his inevitable end. He was going to die. But he wouldn't die here. _Couldn't_ die here. He just… he couldn't simply _die_ this suddenly. He was still young and he hadn't told Tsubaki how he felt. He… there were so many things he still wanted to do, so he couldn't die. He didn't have the option. The fear of death and staring at it in the eyes scared him, but he needed to hold out. Find a way out and find Tsubaki and Maka and get the hell away from here.

Loudly he inhaled as he lifted his hand, gaze going to the camcorder.

He hadn't learned of the way out from Justin, but Enrique had a camera and surely he had to have documented it. It was his only hope. The only thread of hope he had left. He took it. He pulled out the screen and turned it on, starting to review all the footage.

…

Rage boiled in her veins. All Liz could see was red as she ran with the three ghost girls right on her tail. She hated them. Hated them with her entire being for killing Tsubaki so ruthlessly. There was nothing holding her back. She was going to get her revenge on them.

The three ghosts were quick. They gurgled and hollered in excitement as they chased her.

She skidded as she rounded the corner.

She needed to find a weapon. Anything could do.

She ran as quickly as she could. Forced herself to run even quicker, pushing on her limit. Her eyes caught sight of the familiar entrance and an idea appeared. She dashed toward the junction in the hallways. She used one shelf to round the corner faster. She let out a loud scream as she tripped, her face planted in the ground.

Loud giggles from the ghosts rung in her ears and looked over her shoulder, seeing the three girls right behind her. Anya with her guts hanging from her abdomen dangled on the edge of the shelf while Meme missing part of her head were rolling around on the ground like crazy, as if she was excited at her fall.

Tsugumi with her eye missing simply looked at her while her neck twitched as if she tried to stay calm but her excitement was leaking through her body language.

Anger flushed her cheeks as she stretched her hand out, fingertips almost reaching the floorboard on the ground in front of the school entrance, but she couldn't reach it. Her finger tips only brushed against the nearest board. Her jaw tightened as she tried to reach it as she heard the footsteps of the ghost nearing her.

She grunted and switched focus. She quickly grabbed a shoe from the shelf, threw it behind her at Tsugumi square in her face. For some reason, the hold on her leg diminished. She crawled and grasped the board. She cried as she swung the board around, hitting Tsugumi right in the head. The girl's eye widened in shock as she backpedalled, but it didn't leave any wound, not even a scratch! And she had hit her with all her might!

She huffed as she swung the board toward Anya and the board went right through her. The girl simply giggled and gurgled as she mocked her for her poor attempt. Anya jumped down from the shelf and Meme floated up in the air before she gently landed on her feet.

She gulped as she backpedalled closer to the main entrance. The splatter from the rain rung loudly and the smell of wet grass hit her.

She was left with a choice. Letting the three ghosts kill them in a way that was surely painful or she could take things into her own hands and run outside, run into the mines she knew laid buried under the surface. One would be her choice, the other she would be at the mercy of the ghosts. But then again, if she died, she would suffer the pain of the way she died for all of eternity. Blowing up because of a mine would hurt like hell, and that pain she would have to live with forever. The ghosts killing her would scare her to death, simply seeing how they had killed Tsubaki, they would kill her in a horrifying way just like her, but there is a chance it could hurt less.

Her jaw tensed as she stared at the ghosts who came closer and closer, forcing her to backpedalling closer to the door. It was almost as if they _wanted_ to witness her walking on a mine and being blown up.

But she wasn't going to die because she understood what this was all about.

They may be supernatural killing machines, but she understood. She wasn't going to die.

Her grip on the board tightened and she braced herself. Slowly she kneeled to the ground and took another board. The ghosts studied her every move, but they allowed her to arm herself with another board. They certainly were… impulsive and blood-lusting and… they weren't afraid of her. They knew they were superior in every sense and she couldn't kill them.

But she had a plan.

She let out a loud cry as she leapt toward Tsugumi, she swung the board expectedly and just as she suspected, the board went right through her, but she didn't stop. She used the momentum to whirl toward Meme and pushed her up against the wall. An opening of escape was open and she took it. She dashed passed the ghosts and right before she rounded the corner, she swung the floor board and threw it at the ghosts which hit them right in the shoulders.

She breathed heavily as she ran through the corridor with her only floor board left. The ghost trio laughed excitedly as they followed her.

She couldn't fight them and win. They were immortal. They couldn't be killed. Her only choice of survival was to hide away from them.

A corner came into her view and she rounded it. There was a large double door to the inner courtyard, surrounded by the building. There were plenty of hiding spots and with the heavy raining, it would make it more difficult for them to find her. She hasted toward the double doors. She pulled at the handle and it budged, but it didn't open.

She didn't have time for this!

She kicked the door and it swung wide open. Without any shred of fear for mines, she hurried out and the rain hit her. Her eyes scanned the inner court and she found the pond with a straw bush. She didn't waste any more time. She ran over to the pond, discarding the board in the straw bush, snatching a straw before she dived into the pond when the ghosts reached the court yard.

The water caged her and she brought the straw to her lips, making sure it was angled not to get more rain water into it. She breathed through it as she tried to keep herself as still as she could in the water. Through the muddy and blurry water, she could make out the faint blue hue from the ghosts as they scurried around the courtyard in search for her. Their laughter was muffled by the water and the light moved around in a maddening hurry.

Her heart rushed in her chest. Her lungs begged her for more oxygen than was provided to them through the straw. But she remained calm. Dying down the voices in her head telling her she needed air, she didn't want to stay in the muddy water. She silenced them all and she remained.

She ignored it all. The shifting of blue light, the oxygen her body begged for, the sensation of being too long underwater and the unusual soft flesh her hand kept on brushing against. Her mind remained blank. Not daring to give any of it any of her attention. There was only her and her beating heart. She was alive. That was all it mattered.

She didn't know how long she remained under water, or when the blue light seemed to disappear or how long she remained in the pond after the ghosts had disappeared. She stayed under the water where she was safe. Simply letting time pass. Once some time had passed, she didn't know how long; cautiously she rose toward the surface, not too fast to disturb the water too much. She peeked up, water right underneath her eyes and the rain dropped on her head.

There was no sight of the ghost trio. The inner courtyard was completely calm and only the rain hitting the pond's surface could be heard. She almost dived back down into the water when a sudden slam caught her attention. Her gaze drifted to a lonely shed in the middle of the courtyard. The door was open and there was a large man with a chainsaw. Immediately she connected the man with the warning she and— Maka and Soul had written a note warning for a man with a chainsaw. This had to be that man.

But… when she had run into the courtyard, he hadn't been there. She was sure of it. If he had been somewhere in the courtyard and she hadn't noticed him, he would've found her immediately. She had only noticed the movement of the ghosts, none of a new character. She was sure he hadn't come any recently. And… that shed wasn't large. What would he be doing in there?

She shook off her train of thoughts. Her mind was running wild again. There wasn't anything special. All she had to do is keep her eye on him.

As cautiously as she could, she eyed the man as he dragged his feet toward the double doors. He hadn't noticed her or even cared to look around. He went inside, disappearing from her view.

She remained, staying silent and became one with the background. She didn't allow herself to relax for even one second. She didn't know if the ghosts would return or not, but it wasn't wise to take out her victory too early.

She let a couple of minutes pass. Let time float by. She didn't know how long she allowed herself to simply be one with the water. She stayed there, for the first time finding some peace in the pond ever since she arrived at Gallows Elementary School.

It wasn't until the ground started to shake. She catapulted up on her feet, breathing heavily as water dripped from her hair.

"A-a-an earthquake?!" she stuttered as the cold air started to nibble on her skin. She stood her ground, trying to remain her balance, but the shakes were strong. Far stronger than she had experience. This was a big one. Her eyes rapidly looked around her as the leaves on the trees fell from the force and the metal chains on the swings rustled loudly. It lasted far longer, but slowly it ebbed away and she was left standing in the rain in the middle of the pond with the straw in hand.

Water dripped from her clothes as she wandered up to the edge, stumbling on sticks she knew too well to be bones and flesh to be arms or legs, but she didn't care. Her shoes made squishy sounds as the rain poured down around her. Leaves were stuck in her hair and her usually white clothes were a pale brown colour. Her hands were balled as she stared in the direction of the double doors, in the direction the ghost trio had disappeared in.

She was still alive.


	15. Owners

Chapter 15

_Owners_

Soul's cheeks hurt from all the grinning as he went over to the lockers where they had left their things to dry off. His heart fluttered with joy and he was ecstatic.

Black*Star was right.

Maka does care for him.

He knew so because… first things first, she wouldn't have kissed anyone she didn't hold some sort of feelings for. He had witnessed that first-hand when she was under the strict order of a dare to kiss one of their classmates. The guy had been all in and eager to kiss her, immediately going in for the kiss when she had punched him in the face, refusing to do the dare and then she had left the circle. It was one of the many things he admired about her. Her integrity and her courage to stand up for herself and refuse to do things even though she was dared to.

Secondly, she _definitively_ wouldn't have performed… _things_ with him if she hadn't cared for him in that way. They had… done more things he had only fantasied about doing with her in his dreams, but there they were and Maka was making them into a reality. Everything from kissing his neck to her nails clawing at his back and her hands gripping his hair and… _more_. He… never in a million years did he think they would actually become a reality. He had witnessed as she had… _unravelled_ and the image was etched on his mind. The time he spent in the broom closet with her was a memory he could never forget. It was an experience he would forever treasure as the first time he kissed a girl he genuinely cared a lot for.

Maka… she truly cared for him, and quite frankly, he didn't know what to do about it. He wanted to… make a gesture. Show her his affection and release the romantic nonsense he had dreamt about doing. Holding her hand and brushing her bangs out of her eyes and cupping her cheek before he leaned in and kissed her. He wasn't normally romantic, he had a hard time expressing his emotions, but with Maka, they came naturally. The sensation of love had spun ideas into his head he couldn't escape from, neither did he want to.

He opened the locker and he touched his pants, they were still wet, but at least they were no longer soaked. He slipped on his pants, buttoned his shirt and he put on his leather jacket, but quickly regretted it when the jacket caged the wet sensation. Instead he settled on tying the jacket around his hips. His shirt was still somewhat see-through, but he could live with it. He put on his socks and his shoes and tied them.

He took a seat by the locker and he pulled out his student ID, unfolding it and finding the piece of paper was still there and to his surprise, it wasn't damaged by the water. The plastic must've protected it quite well. He pocketed his and he opened the locker next to his where Maka's belongings were.

"Can you bring me my clothes?" Maka spoke from within the broom closet.

A wide grin grew on his face. In reality it wouldn't have mattered if she were to walk out with only her underwear and bra on, he had seen a whole lot more of her than that, but he respected it.

"I will," he simply replied.

He grabbed her skirt and it was also somewhat dry like his clothes.

But something was missing.

The weight in her skirt was gone. There weren't any weight in her skirt pockets and he had seen it was there she kept her student ID. And the scrap of paper from the ritual. The one that was _really_ important. Hurriedly he went through her pockets, hands desperately searching for the object, but nothing was found. It didn't matter how he somehow wished it had simply gotten wet, escaped from the wallet and was snug against the seams of the pocket.

It was gone.

His throat ran dry as horror sat in his body. It had been important. Lady Arachne had told them so. And hers was gone. _Hers was gone!_

"What is taking you so long?" Maka muttered from within the locker.

He threw his gaze over his shoulder. "Calm down. I'm getting them," he tried to mask the panic making his body shaking.

"Hurry up already. It's getting cold."

He had to make a decision. Right there, right now before Maka decided she would get the clothes herself. Before he could think it over anymore, not knowing exactly how important the piece of paper was, he pulled up his own student ID, peeled his sticker from his cover, turned his student ID around so his photo wasn't visible and made sure as much of the piece of paper covered the ID. He slipped his student ID into her skirt pocket.

He gathered all of her belonging, his jaw tensed when he grabbed her bag where he knew the four tongue bags were located. Without wasting another thought on it, he hurried over to the broom closet and unloaded all the stuff right outside.

He gave the broom closet his back. "I'm looking away. You can take them."

The broom closet shrieked as she opened it. The clothes rustled and the door shut again. He grinned wide when he heard Maka struggling inside to put her clothes back on. At one point she bumped her head against the shelf and cursed loudly.

"Oh shut up!" Maka hissed from within the broom closet when he couldn't contain his snickers.

"I just thought you had learned how to manoeuvre around inside of the closet by now."

Maka immediately went silent. The door opened again and he turned around, finding her completely clothed and her messenger bag thrown over her shoulders. And just like his shirt, hers was still see-through and her bra clung to the fabric.

"Listen Soul, about that…" Her voice faded when he untied his leather jacket from around his waist offer it. "It's sweet of you, but I don't need it."

"It's your choice if you want to walk around with your bra showing," he commented, shrugging his shoulders.

Her face turned a bright red as she looked down, seeing exactly what he had seen. She quickly snatched his jacket taking off her bag and put his leather jacket on and zipping it up. She murmured a thank you as her eyes avoided his and she put her messenger bag back on.

"Soul, we really need to talk about… what happened in there," she gestured with her head.

Yes, the best time in his life. She truly was going to say it. Utter those sweet words he had been longing to hear for such a long time.

"I was influenced by the bad energy this place makes and… I took it out on you. I'm really sorry for all the things I did."

His heart clenched and a knot swelled within his throat. He could only look at her as she avoided his gaze, instead paying close attention to his sleeves on his leather jacket she was rolling up.

"I hope you didn't take it too seriously. It's just… you know, this place has bad energy and you were caught up by it and I was caught up in it and I… did _that_ to you."

A heavy silence hung between them and Maka visibly gulped, finding the courage to meet his eyes.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know… just, what goes through your head?"

Hurt. Incredible hurt. He had gotten used to the pain of her rejection and now, another blow had been administered on him after the best time of his life. He had… he had been under the illusion she cared for him. And now she had gone and pulled something like that? He didn't even know what to say to that.

"The only words going through my head are that you chose to run away again."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm leaving that for you to figure out," he let out a shaky sigh as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "We should leave and do whatever your spiritual sense tells you to do."

Her mouth parted as if she was going to protest, oh he wanted her to protest and demand more information, only showing him either he was terribly wrong again and he didn't know Maka at all, or she was _that_ oblivious to her own feelings. Just like Black*Star had said.

"Okay. Let's leave."

A part of him was disappointed, but he could only blame himself for changing the subject. If she wasn't ready to deal with the subject, he would wait. Or maybe it was him who needed the time. If he had horribly judged the time they shared in the broom closet, he couldn't handle another heartbreak, especially in a place like this.

Maybe it was better to delay it, guarding his feelings for a while longer so they could continue their already brittle partnership through this hellhole.

They exited the corridor and they wandered. They went up a floor and he continued following Maka. A tiny gasp left her mouth as her steps hurried. He raised his eyebrow and he hurried after her. She jogged around a corner and he found her by a door with strange papers on it.

"What is that?" he asked.

Maka ran her fingers over a piece of paper glued to the door. "This is a charm… it says 'seal'. This is sealing something behind the doors."

He raised his eyebrow. "Seriously? Is it dangerous?"

"I don't know but… I don't think so? I don't get that feeling that it's something dangerous."

"Then let's just rip it off and find out."

"No!" Maka exclaimed. "This is serious stuff. You can't just rip it off without suffering from the consequences. We will need a counter charm or crystals to be able to unseal it safely."

"You know you sound like you're a witch or something when you're talking like that."

Maka rolled her eyes at him. "Just shut up. We won't be able to unseal this. Let's just keep on going."

And so they did. They continued searching the annex and it absolutely creeped him out. Maka didn't sense anymore presence of more tongues in the annex. They decided it was better to head back to the main building to his relief. He had grown sick of this annex and simply remembering the fresh air hitting him motivated him to go faster.

"Wait." Maka grabbed Soul's hand, preventing him from going any further.

He looked over his shoulder at her. "What is it?"

"I…" she released his hand and started to rummage through her bag. She pulled out the four tongue bags and he took a step back when he felt his sanity tugging toward the tongue bags. "I'm sensing something…" she murmured under her breath.

"Okay…? Is it anything special?"

"I can't really put my finger on it but… one of the tongue bags I'm sensing something extra from."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know how to explain it. I barely know what I'm sensing."

"You know more than I know."

Maka growled in frustration. "Yes but it's not exactly like I know what I'm doing half of the time. I'm just… following my gut."

"And what is your gut telling you now?"

Maka shrugged her shoulders as she looked down at the bags in her hands. "I… the bag to the right feels more… stronger I guess compared to the others. I don't really know—" she visibly stiffened and her head snapped up, eyes wide in alarm.

Immediately horror washed over him and he crossed the space, grabbing a hold of her shoulders, shaking her carefully. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Giriko…" Maka murmured. "He's coming."

Before he had any time to question who it was or if it was a friend or a foe, around the corner right behind Maka came the tall man wielding his chainsaw.

"Run!" he exclaimed as he started to pull her away, but the chainsaw man— Giriko was quick. He closed the space between them in two large steps and he grabbed a hold of the strap to her bag. The engine of the chainsaw roared to life. Maka's eyes were wide and fear for her life was present in her eyes.

But he wasn't going to abandon her.

He tackled into her and steered her away from the chainsaw going right passed his arm around her, scratching his shirt. Quickly he pulled up his pocket knife, sawing through her strap as Giriko pulled back his chainsaw. Maka gasped into his ear when they tumbled down to the ground as the chainsaw went passed them on the other side. Soul's arms caged her and they rolled out of the way when the chainsaw stabbed the floor. Pieces of wood when flying from the floor. They hurried up on the feet and Maka pushed Soul to run ahead of her as she put the tongue bags in her pocket.

But running with an injured ankle wasn't that easy.

He hurriedly limped than ran. Maka hooked her arm in his and dragged him, forcing him to go faster, ignoring the pulsing pain in his foot. Giriko's heavy steps rung in the corridor as they hurried as fast as they could away from him.

"Oh no," Maka skidded to a stop, taking him with her.

Giggles ran through the air mystically as three glowing girls ascended up _through the floor!_ There were no holes, they simply went _through the floor!_

"They are ghosts," Maka's voice quivered and her hand slid down his arm, entwining their hands together. Giriko and the three girls slowly neared them.

There was no escape.

"Listen carefully," Soul gulped loudly as he squeezed Maka's hand and she returned it. "I'm going to distract them. When there's an opening, you take it and you run."

"But Soul… there's no way you will survive."

"You are more important. Your spiritual sense is invaluable. You need to use it to find the others and find a way out of here. You need to be the one to go on."

"I'm not leaving you," her voice shook, her hand quivered in his as she squeezed as hard as she could. The ghosts and Giriko came closer.

"This isn't a debate. You will do it."

As if to reply to his command, she snaked her arm around his and squeezed it as if she was a python. He wasn't going to let her die here. Even if she wanted to go down with him, he wouldn't allow it. Never in a million years.

He was ready to lay it all down for Maka's survival.

He grabbed her arm and he pulled his hand away from hers, but it wasn't easy. She struggled to cling onto him and he ripped himself away from her.

"Remember what I said," he spoke as he braced the knife in his hand.

Her face twisted with hurt before he turned away from her and he dashed toward Giriko. Giriko stabbed the air with his chainsaw, going right passed his ear when Soul tackled into him. He simply didn't go down with him. It was like running into a brick wall, but he persisted. He used all his might to take Giriko down to the floor.

"Now run!" Soul exclaimed.

Her footsteps rung and she ran right passed him, throwing her gaze over her shoulder and her steps slowly stopped.

"What are you doing?" Soul hissed as he struggled with Giriko under him. "Run! Get out of here!"

She visibly gulped and his world was tipped when Giriko tipped him to the ground. On pure survival instinct, he raised his hand and implanted his knife into Giriko's neck. But no blood came. Giriko didn't even register the knife. He kept on going with the same might as if he hadn't stabbed him in a vital spot.

The chainsaw roared with its might as Giriko lifted it up in the air. Soul squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the pain.

"No!" Maka screamed.

His eyes snapped open when he found Maka standing behind Giriko, her arms around Giriko's bicep, holding it off as best as she could.

"What are you doing?!" he growled loudly.

"I'm not going to abandon you!" She untangled Giriko's fingers free. The chainsaw clattered on the ground by his side and Maka kicked it away from them.

The ghosts had approached Maka and a ghost missing her eye grabbed Maka's hair and she was forced to let go of Giriko's arm. His arm came down and tightly gripped his throat. Maka's screams rung in the air and his heart ached in pain.

This was it, huh?

They were both really going to die here?

Giriko's grip on his throat tightened. Not even the tiniest of flow of oxygen managed to seep through. His face grew hot and he struggled in his grip. His nails clawed at Giriko's hand and wrist. His knife desperately cut at his arm but Giriko didn't even flinch the slightest.

Spots started to decorate the corners of his vision. His hands grew limp and he heard Maka calling his name.

She screamed Soul's name. Fear rooted in her belly when she witnessed Giriko on top of him choking him unconscious. If this kept up, he was going to die soon.

"Soul!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as tears welled in her eyes. The ghost on top of her grabbed her pigtail and ripped her gaze away from Soul. Her head slammed against the floor and she found herself staring right into the ghost's one working eye.

 _Tsugumi_ …

The name rung within her mind as she looked at the ghost. That name was familiar. When they had found the first tongue, Tsugumi had rung within her head again. They had told her she had gone into a frenzy and only Tsugumi had been on her mind.

Her mouth was wide open in a sneer and… there was no tongue.

It was _her_ tongue!

With the newfound information, she desperately clawed at her skirt, pulling out the tongue bags and she found Tsugumi's tongue bag. She thrusted it in Tsugumi's face and her eyes widened. The bloodlust and satisfaction ran off her as soon as her eyes settled on the tongue bag. She let go of her hair and slowly she reached out toward the bag. She held it in her hands and she stared at it.

She had four tongue bags… and there were three ghosts and Giriko. Now when she opened up her senses, she immediately felt the familiarity between the tongues and the ghosts and Giriko. The tongues they had collected… it belonged to them! Lady Arachne said in order to free themselves, they had to give something back! The back she had been talking about was giving the tongues back to their rightful owners! And they were all gathered in front of her.

She squirmed herself away from Tsugumi, grabbing a new tongue bag and the name _Anya Hepburn_ rang in her head, matching with the girl with long blood-soaked hair and guts hanging from her abdomen. Without wasting another moment, she approached the girl and threw it on the ground. The ghost acted just like Tsugumi had, completely taken back by the view of her tongue. Maka hurried over to Meme Tatane, returning her tongue before she ran to Giriko with the last tongue.

Soul's face had started turning blue. She tackled him out of the way and his grip on Soul released. Before Giriko could react, she held the tongue bag in front of his face and his threatening eyes turned soft. He grabbed the bag and stared at it.

The ground started to shake violently, but it didn't bother her. She wobbled over to Soul's side and as gently as she could, she slapped his cheek to wake him up. His eyes didn't open and she held her hand over his mouth, a sigh of relief washed over her when she detected his faint breathing.

She gasped when the ground shook even more. The lights in the ceilings swung like mad, the floorboards cracked loudly and glass shattered. Maka leaned over Soul and she protected him with her body. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tightly embraced Soul.

…

Maka's eyes opened slowly and she was met with the bright lights. She groaned as she shielded her eyes from the powerful light. The ground was no longer shaking and—

She gasped loudly when she remembered Soul! He had been choked till he fainted and the earthquake! She sat up straight and she was taken back.

Around here were the exact decorations of their classroom. The chairs were by the desks and nothing was broken. The floors were cleaned and on the white board still stood the menu of what they had been serving for the Halloween festival.

This truly was their classroom!

They were home!

"Soul!" Maka exclaimed and ran over to him lying passed out on the ground. "Soul! Wake up! We are home!" To her relief he groaned loudly and his eyes slowly cracked open.

"Maka…?" he sat up.

"We are home," she repeated, smiling wide toward him as she released his shoulders.

"Holy crap…" he murmured as he drank in the sight of their classroom. "Is this real?"

Maka rose on her feet and she hurried over to Black*Star's desk. She looked under it and there were plenty of gums of various colours stuck. This truly was their classroom!

"It's real," Maka sighed with relief as her smile filled with joy. "We really are home. We escaped!"

Soul flinched as he touched his neck. On his neck were dark blue bruises from Giriko's fingers.

"How bad is it?" she asked as she crossed over to him, kneeling by his side.

"It's sore, but other than that I'm fine."

"You sure? You were choked till you fell unconscious."

"Yeah. It doesn't hurt when I breathe so it's not that bad."

She sunk down on her knees by his side, emotions washing over her when she thought about what happened at Gallows Elementary School. How he had selflessly sacrificed himself in order to save her.

"How could you do that?" she said.

He raised his eyebrow questioningly as carefully as he could, massaged his neck.

"How could you so easily choose to sacrifice yourself? You know none of us would survive in there alone."

"And you know which one of us would survive the longest alone."

"It still doesn't give you the right to just go ahead and sacrifice yourself! You almost died—"

"Would it be better if we had died together in there? No. I wasn't going to let you die!" he screamed back.

Maka sneered as tears started to well in her eyes when suddenly, the lights started to flicker. "You're not just _anybody!_ You're Soul Evans and you _matter—_ " her voice was cut off when the ground started to shake and both of them clung onto each other as the lights shimmered.

"What is going on?" Soul questioned.

"I-I don't know!"

By the door to the classroom a pure darkness the lights couldn't penetrate appeared. It grew in size and came closer to them. Soul's grip on her tightened as he brought her closer to him and she leaned into him to get further away from the darkness.

In the darkness four sticks grew larger and they took form.

"No fucking way!" Soul screamed when the four figures took shape as the three ghost girls and Giriko.

She slapped her hand over her mouth and choked back a cry of horror as the four of them stepped out of the darkness.

"Will you shut up? You're making me deaf." Giriko rolled his eyes as he spoke from behind the three girls.

There was something different. They looked exactly the same, but they _acted_ a whole lot different. They were no longer driven by the need to kill and they _talked_. They certainly were a whole lot more civil and… normal. She didn't detect the bad energy coming off them anymore. It still gripped their cores, but it was in control. Somehow, they had managed to control the darkness within their hearts.

"You have given us back our tongues. Finally we can speak," Tsugumi said.

"For so long we have been cursed to silence and controlled by the madness," Meme spoke.

"And now we are finally free momentarily," Anya pitched in.

Immediately two words came to her mind. "Madness? Momentarily? What is that supposed to mean?" she uttered out her questions.

"What it means is we are still caught in Medusa's grip of madness, but by giving us our tongues back, you gave us the strength to break free, but only for a while," Giriko explained nonchalantly as if it was obvious, but the more they spoke, the more questions appeared at the forefront of her mind.

"Are you here to kill us?" Soul said from behind her.

"No! We saved you!" Meme sang with pride.

"It was the least we could do after you returned all of our tongues," Anya spoke.

"But you only saved us." It was more of a statement than a question.

"What do you think we are? A transportation company? It was hard enough to take you brats out of Gallows Elementary School. No way could we get the others out too." Giriko sneered, stabbing his chainsaw into the ground and crossed his arms over his chest.

Soul was about to protest but Maka raised her arm, cutting him off. "What is it you all know that we don't know?"

Giriko snorted. "Everything."

"You will need to be more specific," Tsugumi pitched in.

"How did this place come to be? What happened to you? What exactly is Gallows Elementary School?"

Giriko smirked wide toward her. It made her skin crawl in unease. "You want to know?"

"Yes."

"Alright, get up on your feet."

She didn't know what exactly Giriko had in mind, but she saw no harm in following his command. She stood up on her feet and Soul was quick to follow.

"You take two steps forward and hold your arms up in the air." Giriko nodded toward her.

Soul grabbed her wrist and she looked over her shoulder at him. His eyebrows were knitted together and he slowly shook his head. "I've got a bad feeling about this," he murmured.

"If something is fishy, pull me away, okay?"

"Something is already fishy."

She rolled her eyes. "Not now."

"I don't like this. Don't do it."

"We need the information. Pull me back when you have something concrete to go on." Gently she pushed his hand from her wrist and she took two steps, raising her arms in the air just like Giriko had instructed.

Giriko pulled his chainsaw from the floor. It was exactly what broke the tension. Anya and Meme dashed passed her, clinging onto Soul as he colourfully cursed. Tsugumi jumped on her back and held her hands behind her head.

"Maka!" Soul screamed as he struggled in the girls' arms.

Her eyes widened when Giriko came closer with his chainsaw. The chainsaw roared to life. He pulled it back and she struggled to escape. Giriko thrusted his chainsaw through Maka's chest.


	16. Victims

Chapter 16

_Victims_

Maka didn't know what was happening to her. One moment Giriko had stormed up to her, driving his chainsaw through her abdomen and everything had gone dark. At one point, she thought she had been fooled and he had killed her in cold-blood. Almost to the point she apologized to Soul for doubting him.

She gasped loudly when the darkness around her shifted and she found herself back in school, but the school looked a whole lot… older. Maybe even vintage. It was already dark outside and the rain poured outside. The moon was out and granted her with its presence, lighting up the dark corridors.

But the school didn't quite look like Shibusen High. It was more similar to… Gallows Elementary School, but at the same time not. This school was far cleaner and _functioning_ than the school she had witnessed. This school was strong and ready for action in the morning when their students would arrive and the teachers would start educating the children. Maybe… just maybe this could be…

Her questions were answered when a male's voice rung in the corridor. She turned around and she found none other than Giriko behind her talking to Tsugumi. Both of them were a whole lot more _alive_. Tsugumi's skin no longer had cyanosis and wasn't pale but it was alive full with oxygen. Her cheeks were flushed as she skipped beside Giriko. Giriko had his hands in his pockets as he went in silence beside the young girl.

She had no clue what was going on. This building surely had to be Gallows Elementary School, but this wasn't the old and decaying building she and her friends had been trapped in, this was how it had looked when it was still running.

"Hey, what is it you did to me?" Maka said as she headed toward Giriko and Tsugumi, but none of them paid any attention to her. "Hello? What is this—"

Without even sparing a moment for her, Giriko went right _through_ her and her mind went blank for a split second. Images travelled through her mind and an excruciating pain exploded in her head. She let out a scream of pain.

Images. So many images travelled through her mind. Giriko had been the janitor at Gallows Elementary School. He hated his job. He would've rather worked at a factor cutting wood than caring for a school and having annoying brats running in front of him without paying a single attention to who they ran into, but it was a job that kept the money rolling in and he might've burned all of his chances at working at a factory when he slept with the CEO's daughter.

Giriko had been minding his own business and he was making his rounds, making sure all children had returned home and none were left in the classrooms. His attention had been caught when he heard the whispers of a certain teacher and a student. He had looked around the corner and found the teacher walking with the child, hand in hand; but they weren't heading for an exit. He had grown curious and followed. He followed the teacher to her classroom and there. He had listened outside of the classroom door, but there was only silence. After a while he had opened the door, and Tsugumi and the teacher was gone. Giriko searched through the classroom and somehow, even she hadn't been able to detect it, he moved a bookcase aside and there was a small space with a hatchet. He opened it, climbing down.

That's how the horror had started.

He heard screams. He had been caught by the teacher, Medusa, came to her mind. There had been a child, a fatal cut on her throat and she was obviously dead.

He had been forced into what could only be described as human trafficking. Medusa had made his mission clear. Take children down below where Medusa's specimen, a small child with pink hair Medusa called Sachiko. If he didn't, there would be consequences. At first, he was ready to take those consequences because no way was he going to take kids down to the underground system for them to die there. He hated kids, but not _that_ much. He had been ready to report Medusa to the police, but things had gotten messy. Somehow, Medusa convinced him now when he had found the secret underground system and discovered the dead bodies of the children that had gone missing, Medusa could use this to put all the blame on him. She threatened to blackmail him and put all the blame on him, and he would be in jail for the rest of his life.

Fuck. It had been a hard deal. He had been forced to comply. He wasn't a scholar. He couldn't think his way out of this. If he even as much as moved to contact the police, Medusa would be there, making sure to keep him silenced and in the game.

And it hadn't gotten better.

Giriko was a ladies man. He loved women and there was one woman with the curves of a seductress. Lady Arachne was a sight for sore eyes and when she gave him her attention and… well, there was images Maka didn't want to see. They were intimate. Lady Arachne was aware of his predicament with Medusa and she always managed to say the right words to keep him in the business. Convinced him that he was serving a higher purpose and he would be rewarded once it was paying off.

And he fell for it.

Having both Medusa and Lady Arachne on both sides, pushing him to grab children and taking them down to the underground system for them to die. At the beginning, he simply brought the annoying ones he couldn't stand to the underground system and then left, never to see the child ever again, simply seeing the child's face on missing people posters.

He hardened his heart and grew used to it. Until Medusa wanted to use him some more.

The task of taking care of the corpses fell onto him. Afterward he had to dispose of the bodies. He was disgusted at the condition the corpses were in. There was no corpse that died in the same way, except for the fact all bodies had a severed tongue. He disposed of the bodies in various places underground which was used for disposal of the bodies. Sometimes they would be placed in a bathtub full with acid, sometimes it would simply be dumped in a large hole where bodies created a small berg. There were plenty of corridors that led to disposing areas.

It was disgusting and every time he even thought of leaving, Lady Arachne or Medusa was always there. Lady Arachne with her wonderful body convincing him with her sexy body or Medusa with her threats of a lifetime in prison and the horrible things that would happen to him.

It wasn't until one day he had enough.

Maka gasped loudly when the images ended and she found herself in a dark corridor with lamps hanging down from the ceiling. Immediately she recognized it from the images she had witness. Perhaps it was Giriko's memories? It was the underground system. Giriko went beside Tsugumi. She must've been brought back to the presence. Or the present memory she had found herself in.

"Are we there soon, mister?" Tsugumi had asked, entwining her hands behind her back.

"Calm down, we're soon there," Giriko rolled his eyes as he continued walking.

She followed the two deeper into the underground system. They headed for some time deeper and deeper into the corridors, under a light at the end of the tunnel grew. She gasped when she found Meme and Anya tied and blindfolded on the ground. A small child with pink hair sat on a chair and on the other side sat the woman named Medusa.

Tsugumi immediately sensed something was wrong. She turned on her heel and tried to run away, but Giriko grabbed a hold of her shirt, ripping her back.

Maka covered her hands over her mouth in horror as she watched Tsugumi struggle in Giriko's grip as he easily fished up a blindfold. He made quick work. He tied it around her head, tied together her arms and legs before he pushed her down on the ground where she laid beside Meme.

"Now Sachi, go and play." Medusa said as she unrolled a fabric, exposing all kind of different kinds of tools and— was that a _bone saw?!_

She could barely watch. The child with the pink hair had no remorse. Maka gasped in horror as the child went in with the intention to kill the girls, without even budging or expressing an emotion of remorse. No sympathy, not even empathy was detected on Sachiko's face.

Her heart was as cold as stone. If she even had a heart.

Her heart hurt from hearing the children beg for mercy. Beg to spare them as she killed them. Ripping guts out, grabbing the electronic bone saw and _sawing off_ Meme's head just above her lips. The whole time, Medusa calmly sat and watched Sachiko, scribbling something down in her notebook. To her surprise, Giriko looked away the whole time, eyes closed. For being such a tough guy, _he_ was the one who expressed the most.

When it was Tsugumi's turn and Sachiko grabbed a pair of scissors, she couldn't take it anymore. She looked away as she heard Tsugumi scream in pain and the sound of the scissors stabbing flesh.

Tears ran down her cheeks when Tsugumi's screams stopped and she sobbed. She dared to look back at the scene of murder and it broke her heart. The girls laid there still as Sachiko severed their tongues, discarding them on the tables. When she was done, she stood in front of Medusa.

"Did I do good, mistress?" she asked. No shred of emotion whatsoever.

Medusa reached out to the child. Maka jumped when the loud slap rung in the room and Sachiko fell to the ground from the force, leaving a large red mark on her cheek.

"Foolish child," Medusa hissed. "You aren't even close to your full potential! How dare you fail me again!"

"Mistress what do you want me to do?" she asked as she stood up without making a fuss.

"I want you to do what we have gone through all this time!" she sneered. "Foolish child, you can't even do a simple thing right!"

She had no clue what exactly Medusa wanted to accomplish or why she wanted Sachiko to kill the girls.

"Punish yourself. Once you're done, return to your cell." Medusa commanded as she rose from her seat. "Clean this up. I'm expecting four more kids due in two weeks."

Giriko gulped visibly as Medusa went right passed him. Giriko's hands were balled and quivered as he watched Sachiko slap herself repeatedly. Carefully he grabbed Anya, heading away from the room with the small young girl in his arms. He headed toward the hole where he dumped the girl's body among the others. He got Meme and dumped her at the same place.

When he grabbed Tsugumi and returned to the hole, something was odd. His hands dug into her body and his lower lip quivered.

Tsugumi had been one of the few kids he actually liked. Her spirit always lifted him up and when he was in one of his moods, Tsugumi wouldn't question anything and let him do his job in peace. She was well-mannered for a girl of her age and never had he caught her running in the hallways or bumping into him in her hurry to play in the courtyard like the other kids. She had always been helpful when he cut the grass, she had gathered all the forgotten toys and placed them in the toy box. She had saved his ass multiple times from being chewed out because he ruined _another_ toy because he didn't clean up before he started cutting. She was a good kid.

It had killed him. That evening he knew he needed to bring a child to Medusa or else he would suffer from it. And the last child left in the school at that hour was unfortunately her. He had wanted to pick _any_ kid other than her. But he had run out of options and it simply had to be her. He had harden his heart when he asked her if she wanted to see something cool.

"What the kind of life is this?" he murmured as he stared at Tsugumi dead in his arms. He thought he had hardened his heart but… simply looking at her horrifying wounded eye had his chest hurting. All these kids he had brought to Medusa… they were all someone's Tsugumi. He was well-aware of the fact mothers and fathers were crushed by the fact their child had gone missing… but it wasn't until now he got it, simply tasting a fraction of what they felt from Tsugumi's death.

And he had enough of all of this. No kids deserved to die like this. No family deserved to lose a child. No one deserved to feel like this. He was going to quit.

Reluctantly he had kneeled down on the floor and gently set her down. He breathed heavily as he closed her one eye and clasped her hands over her waist, giving her the dignity he should've given the others. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he rose back on his feet and went away.

A gasp left Maka's lips when suddenly she was pulled backwards. Images flashed before her as if her surrounding was speeding forward. There was a storm of events that raced through her.

Giriko had enough. He did no longer care about Lady Arachne or Medusa's threat. He was going to cut ties and separate himself from the evil deeds taking place under the school and report it. He was on his way to the police to report it, but damned Medusa was one step in front of him.

Giriko was arrested. An anonymous tip had accused him of being the child-kidnapper and all the evidence to set him up for it was presented. He knew that god damned Medusa was behind it. He told his truth, said Medusa was the one who was behind it all and told them where to find the children, but Medusa worked fast. The police didn't find the underground system and Medusa was cleared of all accusations.

He was fooled. He had been used as a scapegoat and he hated Medusa. He boiled with rage and he was ready to get his revenge.

Somehow he managed to escape. He was fuelled with anger and thirsted for revenge. Medusa and Sachiko were going to pay for everything they had done. He was going to stop her and prove she was the one behind all of this. He was going to clear his name and mark her as the children-killer she was.

He returned back to the school where he found Medusa making her rounds. With his bare hands, he choked her to death, but he couldn't take on the murder just quite yet. He still had some evidence to find and he needed to wander free for some time more.

So he did what was reasonable. He broke a floorboard and pushed her down the stairs, making it look like an accident. He went down the underground system and there he found Sachiko in her cage, obediently waiting. When he looked at the child, he hated her. He was well-aware of the fact Medusa was the one pulling the strings and this child was simply a pawn in all of this and a victim just like the other kids. Medusa had been determined at completely ruining Sachiko psychologically in order to gain exactly what she wanted, but he couldn't forgive her. Not after all of those kids _Sachiko_ had killed. She killed Tsugumi. He unlocked the cage and he showed her the mercy Medusa never did; he ended her suffering. He showed her the same curtesy the other kids had been given and removed Sachiko's tongue before he buried Sachiko in the experimental room where so many deaths had taken place. Maybe then would the memories of what she had done come to haunt her.

He hid in the underground system for days, knowing the school was closing down and as soon as it had been abandoned, he was going to make his last victim pay for it. He was going to drag Lady Arachne down to the underground system and make her pay for everything she had done to him. Making a fool out of him and using him and manipulated him to do horrifying things.

On the night when the school closed, he wandered out into the streets. It wasn't hard to find Lady Arachne, but managing to get her to the school was difficult without being seen.

And seen he was.

Maka's surroundings started to pour down like crazy. She found herself on the rooftop of the school. She gasped when her feet slid on the slippery roof. Quickly she sat down before he would fall to her unavoidable death.

"Go!" Giriko screamed.

Maka looked over her shoulder and found Giriko pushing a man with a sack over his head.

"You child killer!" the man yelled over the sound of the pouring rain splattering on the metal of the roof.

"You shouldn't have been in the school!" Giriko roared. "I don't want to kill you! But you're leaving me no choice!"

"You're a monster! How could you kill all those kids and now kill Lady Arachne! You make me sick to have employed such a horrible person!" he growled loudly.

"You should be disgusted with Medusa! She's the one who did all of this! We were all just a pawn in her sick games, including you!" Giriko growled as he forced the man up on the ledge of the building, where the metal plates of the roof began. The man's feet glided unstably on the metal. "I'm sorry for this, it didn't have to end like this, but I'm running out of options."

"You'll rot in hell!" the man cursed.

Giriko let go of the man's hand. Immediately the man's feet slipped and without his eyesight to guide him, he scrambled for anything, but he slipped down the metal plates and rolled off the edge.

Maka flinched when she heard the loud thud of the man landing on the ground.

At first she didn't know who it was, but she remembered the story she had told her friends. Of the teacher falling down the stairs. The principle committing suicide. It had all been because of Giriko. He was the murderer behind the story.

Giriko had breathed heavily as he had gone back down to the underground system, found Lady Arachne where he had left her in Medusa's office, still unconscious. He had taken her down to the underground system. There he had killed her.

Once everyone he resented was dead, he could let out a breath of relaxation. Half of his mission was accomplice and once he had gathered the evidence, he was going to turn himself in and give the police the evidence to clear his name.

But he wasn't going to see the light ever again.

The ground started to shake. Dirt from the ceiling starts falling and the familiar voice starts to echo in the corridor.

"You fool," Medusa's voice eerily speaks from nowhere. "You thought you could get rid of me by simply killing me. I'm one with this school and I'm going to drag you to your worst nightmare!"

"You bitch!" Giriko growled and he jerked to the side involuntarily. "You'll never get away with this!"

Medusa's evil laughter rung in the room. "Welcome to _my_ version of Gallows Elementary School!"

Giriko sneer at wherever Medusa was, but as soon as he was about to talk, his teeth involuntarily clamped down on his tongue. He screamed out in pain through clenched teeth as blood poured down his chin. His body moved on its own accord. He cursed Medusa for even in death, she still played him like a marionette. She forced him to grab a rope, making a quick noose. He struggled against the invisible power controlling him as he stood on a chair, working the noose around his neck.

Medusa's laughter rung loudly in the underground system. Maka let out a terrifying scream as the chair tumbled over.

…

Soul could barely believe his eyes when the chainsaw came out from her back. He screamed her name as the ghosts released him. Giriko pulled out his chainsaw and he caught her before she hit the ground.

"Maka!" he screamed and to his surprise, there was no blood. Not even a wound. Her eyes were rolled back into her head and only the whites of her eyes were visible. She twitched in his arms and she was completely out of it. "What have you done to her?!"

Giriko stabbed his chainsaw in the ground and leaned against it. "She wanted to find out what happened here and I'm giving her the answers."

"By _stabbing_ her?!"

"No, by sharing my memories with her. It would be a drag if I had to tell her the whole story and it's not like we have the time for a story session."

"You're not serious?"

"Of course he is serious," Tsugumi rounded him and beamed toward him. "We have carried the secret for so long and now when we can finally share it, it needs to be heard. Everybody must know what happened to us missing children."

Maka let out a cry of pain as she twisted in his arms. It absolutely broke his heart watching her like this. Why must it always be her who suffered?

"What exactly is it she is seeing?" he asked.

"How all of this came to be."

"And that is…?"

"Our stories of course!" Anya pitched in. "She's witnessing how we died and how Gallows Elementary School came to be!"

"And how exactly did it become?"

"Because of Medusa and her experiment Sachiko," Meme said, coming to sit beside him.

"Hold on… is it Sachiko as in… the Sachiko Ever After charm?"

"Of course it is, dweeb," Giriko rolled his eyes as if the connection was obviously. "It's Sachiko who is the source of all of this. We're simply cogwheels in this machine, but it is her who keeps it running and Medusa who controls all of us."

"And who is Medusa?"

"She's mean," Tsugumi whispered as she leaned closer. "She claims to be a scientist, but she is no ordinary scientist. She… she conducts experiments in order to create something… really evil."

"All we know is she's trying to make Sachiko into _something_ , but we don't know what. All we know is Sachiko is already mean…" Anya pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Medusa is the vilest woman you will ever meet. Don't trust a word she says. She's cunning and clever, you can't give her a finger because she will take your whole arm if you give her the chance," Giriko warned.

His arms tightened on Maka, nails digging into her flesh as he held her close to him as if he could sooth her from whatever she was seeing. She twitched and gave away a silent gasp. He ran his head over her hair, trying to pat the pain away.

How long would this even go on? His heart was breaking from just seeing her possessed within the school, and now watching her prisoned in Giriko's memory and he couldn't do anything about it was tough. He simply did everything he could to make sure she was alright, but there wasn't much he could do. All he could do was sit there and hold her.

He waited for her state to go away. The three ghost girls sat beside him and Giriko rested against his chainsaw, tapping his shoe in boredom. It wasn't until Maka inhaled loudly, catapulting up from his embrace. She breathed heavily as she ran her hands over her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She turned toward him and jolted as if she hadn't registered he was close to her. "I-I…" she shook her head. "I saw how they died and… Medusa, she's the one behind all of this." She turned toward Giriko. "Tell me, it was Medusa who was behind Lady Arachne's blog, not Lady Arachne."

"Correct," Giriko confirmed. "She's also under Medusa's control."

"Then Lady Arachne's blog… Medusa used Lady Arachne's name to publish it to lure people to perform the Sachiko Ever After charm so they would get here and… and die. Why? What purpose do all these deaths fill?"

"I don't know the whole story, but it is connected to Sachiko. All the killing is all for Sachiko. She's trying to use the energy to do _something_. She's collecting all of this madness and she's partially using it to control us, but the rest of the madness I don't know what she's doing with that."

"The bad energy I've been sensing all this time… you call it madness?"

"Yes. It's the energy that loosens up your impulse control and opens up your mind to chaos. She's producing all of this energy with the deaths and hatred."

"Is there something we can do to help you?"

The ghosts and Giriko all smirked wide toward her as hatred sparked in their eyes. "Fucking take that bitch Medusa down." Giriko said.

"Make her pay!" Anya sneered.

"Kill the madness!" Meme growled.

"Give her what she deserves!" Meme hissed.

Maka nodded and she stood up on her feet. Soul was quick on his feet and offered her his hand, which she kindly accepted. Their fingers entangled and she offered him a thankful smile.

"Is there possibly a way we can return to Gallows Elementary School?" Maka asked.

"You can follow us back to the dimension, but be aware, we could only get you two out of there because you granted us our tongues, we won't be able to do it again. Once we return we will be back under Medusa's control." Giriko answered.

"Do you know of a different way we can return home?" Soul questioned.

"There were three people who did, but they are all dead now. We unfortunately didn't learn it in time before they died." Tsugumi answered and her head lowered in sorrow.

"But we do know the paper scraps from the charm is very important. The paper scrap is some sort of… protective charm. You will be safer with it on you and you could possibly evade being killed by us if you have it on you." Anya pitched in happily. "Do you both have your piece of paper from the charm?"

Soul gulped when he saw Maka pull out the student ID and she let out a breath of relief when she saw the piece of paper. He could only relax when she folded the cover and placed it back in her pocket.

"I do… do you?" Maka turned to Soul.

He already knew the answer, but yet he went through his pockets. The reaction was instant from Maka, she started going through the pockets in his leather jacket she was wearing and horror struck on her face.

"Yours is gone…" she whispered. Her voice may have message of astonishment, but he saw something deeper within her. Eyes were fearful as she stared at him as if at any given moment he could drop dead. Her hands slightly trembled as if the news of him not carrying the protection of the paper scrap had her whole being in alarm. He had to admit, seeing such a reaction from her did please him.

"I will be okay."

Before he even had a chance to finish his sentence, Maka shook her head and her pigtails whipped her face. "No. You're staying here. I-I'll return on my own."

"Are you crazy? I'm not going to let you go alone!"

"You have already been through enough. It's all thanks to you we're both here alive and well and… it's my fault the other are still stuck there. I need to find them and make amends."

"I'm going with you."

Maka shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "You can't. Please, stay here where you are safe. I can't bear if anything happened to you."

He reached out to her and he grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. "And if I let you go back there without me, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you or the others." Her hand trembled in his and he gave it a tight squeeze. "Paper or no paper, I'm going with you. Wherever you go, I'll be by your side."

She bit her lower lip as she couldn't bear to look at him. "You will have to promise me you won't do anything drastic. No more attempts at giving up your life in order to save mine. You will stay close to my side and you will never do _anything_ that jeopardizes your safety."

He knew he could never keep such a promise. If one of them were to fall, it would be him. Never would he allow anything to happen to Maka. He didn't approve of keeping secrets or lying to her, but now he had to. If he didn't promise, he feared she would find a way to return without him. Never would he accept that.

"I promise," he agreed, knowing very well he was lying. Even Maka was more suspicious than usual, even she had a hard time believing him.

"You are both in luck, now when you returned our tongues, the dimensions have weakened and now they are all one. It will only be a matter of time before you find all of your friends." Giriko said.

"We need to return. But remember, once you have returned to Gallows Elementary School, if you see us, you need to run. We will be under Medusa's madness and we won't remember the kindness you showed us. We won't hesitate to kill you." Tsugumi informed once again.

The darkness the ghost trio and Giriko had come through grew wider and through the darkness he could see the corridors of Gallows Elementary School. He inhaled deeply as he squeezed Maka's hand tightly which she returned just as much.

"Are you both ready?" Meme asked as she came to stand beside Soul and Anya joined by Maka's side.

"Yes, we are." Maka said.

They both headed inside of the darkness, returning to the place they had called hell.


	17. Death The Kid

Chapter 17

_Death The Kid_

The ground shook violently and the wood cracked loudly. Desks and chairs rattled and fell down from the force of the earthquake. But to Miss Marie, it was like a calming rocking that aroused her from her unconsciousness. She groaned loudly and she cracked her eyes open. Her vision was blurry and her eyes fluttered repeatedly. Her body ached as she laid there on the ground. She moved her shoulder slightly and hissed in pain. Exhaustion weight down her weary bones and she didn't wish to move an inch. Never before had laying on the floor with a crushed lamp on top of her been as pleasant as it was at the moment.

Slowly the earthquake ebbed away and the ground was once again still, but a part of her wished for it to continue so she could be rocked back to sweet, sweet sleep.

"Teach… teeeeeeacher~" A voice rung by her ear.

She groaned heavily as her head rolled toward the side. By her side sat a young man with his legs crossed. His red blazer and the school crest didn't ring any bells. She was sure she hadn't seen that particular school uniform, but judging from the boy's development and school uniform, he had to be in high school, perhaps around the same age as her students.

He smiled kindly toward her and tilted his head, gently he poked his finger at her forehead. "Good, you are finally awake."

She remembered. She had been searching for her students. She had been ambushed by a girl with pink hair and then she had entered this classroom where the red orb had threatened her. The lamp had trembled and fallen down on her, crushing her and breaking bones.

Now when her mind was clearer, she noticed the boy more. There was a blue glow around him and the school uniform _was_ familiar. She had seen it on the skeleton in the classroom and… there was a thick dark bruise on his neck.

It was a crazy thought but… could this boy be… no. This boy couldn't be the spirit of the corpse, but she had seen a red orb rise from the skeleton and… maybe the spirit had turned blue? Was that even possible?

"Who are you?" Miss Marie murmured.

"I'm one of the many students who died here."

"So… you're a ghost?"

"Yes."

It was… her crazy thought was real. It was actually _true_. But then again, she saw a ball of red ascend from the corpse and the lamp pressing down on her with a force greater than air ever could, it was an explanation she could believe in. No ordinary human would glow the way he did. Because of those facts, she believed in him.

"You died here?"

"Yes, me and my friends found this cool charm and our teacher caught us. We were all caught here and… the teacher was already a dickhead but he grabbed his belt and he…" the boy's voice faltered as he tapped his neck.

"I'm so incredibly sorry."

"It's okay. I could've died a whole lot worse. The pain is manageable. But you must be hurting a lot." He waved his hand and Miss Marie hissed loudly when the lamp was lifted from her back and banged against the ground beside her.

"Thank you," Miss Marie squeaked. Her hand was balled and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. The pain was overwhelming. She couldn't move her fingers. Her shoulder must be broken and her chest was uncomfortably tight.

"Can you move?" the boy asked.

"Not my right arm. I think it must be broken."

"Can you stand?"

"I think so." Miss Marie heaved herself up on her knees. The pain stabbed her in her chest, she could barely breathed as she moved on her feet. The boy offered his hand, which she gladly accepted. He supported her and helped her up to her feet.

"Your students must be something extraordinary," the boy said, smiling kindly toward her. In his gaze she witnessed admiration, if it was for her or her students she didn't know.

"Of course they are," she boasted. "They are the sweetest kids you will meet."

"They are lucky to have teacher like you. You taught them well considering they managed to tear down the closed spaces."

Miss Marie was about to accept the compliments the young man gave her when her curiosity caught up to her. "Closed spaces?"

"You were all caught in separate closed spaces of this school, but somehow, two students managed to tear them down, disappearing before they arrived back here. I can sense everybody who is alive is together in this main space."

Her eyes fluttered in confusion. "How many of them can you sense?"

"I can sense five people."

She stiffened. "Only five?! Are you sure you're not missing two people?"

"I'm sure. I'm sorry, but two of your students must be dead."

His words hit her like a cart full of bricks. The lamp crashing on top of her and breaking her ribs was easier than this news. Two of her students were dead. It couldn't be. Two students had passed away _on her watch!_ She was supposed to protect them with her life and… they were gone.

She bit her lower lip and tears blurred her vision. "Can you sense where the others are?" she asked.

"Yes, and I suggest you need to hurry up. It seems like two of your students are in danger."

"Where are they?"

"They are on the ground level by the main entrance. You must hurry before one of them is killed and the other one is consumed with madness."

"Thank you for telling me!" Miss Marie limped as fast as she could not to jostle her arm too much.

"Good luck, teach!" the boy yelled after her as she hurried to save her students.

…

Unlike the first time they arrived to Gallows Elementary School they had fallen unconscious, now they were concious as they stepped out of the dark void and was meet with the creak of the wooden floor. They were no longer in the annex, but in the main building and if he guessed right, they were on the third level.

Soul groaned as he pinched his nose. "Man, I'll never get used to the smell."

"Don't mind that, we need to find the others fast!" Maka sneered, she held out her hand toward him. His eyes momentarily widened, simply looking at her outstretched hand before he grabbed it, their fingers entangling. "Stay close, okay?"

A wide smirk grew on his mouth, showing off all of his razor sharp teeth. "Yeah."

They ran.

Maka took the front, leading them as they ran side by side. He stole a glance at her and admired her pigtails whipping in the wind and her eyes focused in the distance.

"I think I'm sensing Kid. We need to go to him and try to reach him," Maka spoke through her heavy breathing.

"Are you out of your mind?! If he is possessed by the madness how are we going to reach him?"

"We've gotten each other out of the madness and we helped the ghosts and Giriko, I'm sure there is a way for us to reach him too." Maka squeezed his hand tightly. "We can do it. I know we can."

He wasn't so sure. Kid had been in a bad condition when they saw him the first time, he wasn't so sure they would manage now when more time had gone by and… he feared for what sort of state Kid would be in. And what it would mean to Maka. There was a part of her which treasured him, but there was also a part of her who longed for Kid and… he had been worried when she had been influenced by the madness, this had to be killing Maka inside. Sensing the madness on Kid and facing the reality must be difficult. He was worried for her.

But he didn't say anything.

They ran around a corner and Maka counted the classrooms, skidding to a halt by a classroom. Maka pushed down the handle and slammed the door open.

"Oh shit…" Soul breathed as Maka gasped quietly.

Kid was certainly worse. Last time only his hands were covered in Patty's blood, now his entire school uniform was soaked in blood and… he had been in her remains once and he could do it twice. The blood had dried around his nose, mouth and chin. His hair was messy and dried blood was mixed in it. He looked absolutely crazy as he lay across a desk with his arms, legs and head flaccidly hanging from the edges.

Outside of the window stretched the forest and the rain loudly poured down, splattering against the glass and thunder boomed in the distance lightning up Kid's excitement on his face as his eyes settled on them.

"Now we found him, now what?" Soul murmured to her as he tightly held her hand.

"I-I don't really know, but we have to do _something_ " she admitted. She turned toward him as she untangled her hand from his, stepping in front of Soul. "Kid, do you know who I am?"

His chest heaved as a wide smile spread on his face, small laughers escaped from him.

He didn't like this situation at all. Kid wasn't well and he didn't like the fact Maka was putting herself out there to confront a crazy Kid.

"You know me," she spoke as she slowly neared him, observing him for any sudden moves. "I'm Maka Albarn. We are in the same class at Shibusen High. You hang out with me and my friends and we usually study together."

Kid broke out laughing as he rolled to the side, but the desk ended earlier than Kid thought and he fell down on the floor, hitting it handless. His face smashed against the floor and Soul flinched simply watching the fall. That gotta hurt.

Maka jumped from the force and took a couple of steps closer, kneeling down beside him. "Are you okay—" she gasped when he grabbed a hold of her wrist, blood smearing on the leather jacket. Immediately he was on high alert and Maka raised her other hand, stopping Soul from coming any closer. "Stay back!" she sneered.

"But he—"

"I've got this under control!" Maka interrupted him as her face twisted in pain as Kid's grip on her grew tighter.

"It doesn't look like it." He was on his toes, wanting to jump in and rip Kid away from Maka, but if there was someone who could reach him, it was Maka. He couldn't ruin it by jumping in and interrupting her. Putting his trust in Maka to save Kid at the same time he was stopping himself from interfering was difficult.

"Kid, you're our friend. You're always kind when we study together and… you have Patty and Liz. What do you think they will do without y—" she broke out screaming when Kid had grabbed the back of her head and slammed it down to the floor.

Soul had enough.

"Get off her!" he screamed as he pushed him off her, he rolled backwards as he pulled Maka back up on her feet. "Are you okay?"

She stumbled on her feet slightly as she held her forehead. "Y-yeah, I think it's just a bruise."

Soul gulped when Kid rolled onto his back and smirked wide toward them. His knees rose as he braced himself on his feet. He rose up and his head was flaccid and rolled up slowly once he was standing. He turned around as he was grinning wide.

"Did you feel a change in the madness in him?" Soul asked as Kid slowly came toward them.

"No."

Kid breathed heavily as he raised his hand, slapping his temple as he stared at them.

"Kid," Soul began. "We are your friends. Maka is a very good friend to you. You wouldn't hurt your friends."

"You know Patty and Liz, you've known them for so many years. Don't you remember how you saved them?" Maka said, but not a desirable reaction was met.

Kid let out a cry as he stumbled toward them. Soul was about to push Maka out of the way, but she was faster. She shielded him with her body and Kid latched onto her. He pushed them and it was a domino effect as all of them clattered to the floor. Kid raised his fist and Maka caught it with both her hands. Her arms quivered from the effort as Kid put his whole weight on his fist. Maka huffed as she tried to fend Kid off.

Soul worked his arms free from underneath her. Before he could halt himself, he punched Kid in the face. His focus was broken and Maka took the chance to push Kid off of them. They crawled backwards as Kid gathered himself.

"You didn't have to punch him!" Maka sneered at him.

"He attacked us."

"That doesn't give us the right to hit him! We need to get him out of the madness and doing it with our fists isn't going to help."

Kid rose on his feet, slapping his head. He straightened out his neck, twisting his head and loudly cracking his neck. Kid wasn't going to stop. He grinned wide and he launched for them again. Maka was intense in her desire to protect him. Quickly she got up on her feet and met Kid. They fell to the ground in a heap of limbs.

Soul's stomach sunk in horror when balled fists and kicks were thrown at her. As much as she wanted to protect him, he wasn't going to let her fight this battle alone. Especially when Kid was throwing punches without a shred of consideration of the damage he delivered to her.

"Kid!" Maka screamed. "You wouldn't hurt your friend!"

Soul growled and threw himself at Kid. They tumbled to the floor and rolled around. Rage was boiling in his veins as he threw punches at Kid. He didn't care if they were friends before the charm. Kid wasn't himself anymore and he had become a threat toward them. He had attacked Maka and he couldn't forgive him for that. He saw black. Only Kid's face could he focus on as his fist repeatedly hit Kid in the face.

"Soul stop it!" Maka yelled.

He couldn't stop. Not until Kid stopped.

And he wouldn't stop until he was dead.

To Soul's astonishment, Maka's arms entwined around his torso and she pulled him away from Kid. "You have to stop! I can feel the madness sucking into _you_." Maka spoke into his ear.

He stiffened in Maka's arms. Had he been on his way to being influenced by the madness again? Now when he was pulled away from Kid and Maka's observation on his mind, why had he been beating Kid so intensely? He had been on top of him and he was in control, but still he had insisted on beating him. He had thought… he had wanted to kill him. Kid was his friend and even if he was a piece of shit right now, he was caught by the madness and… he had been the same and Maka had saved him, he couldn't let himself be influenced by the madness and ruin this for Maka. He had to believe in her.

"Thank you for pulling me out," he murmured.

"I don't know how you can still be so receptive of madness, but you need to be careful." Maka spoke as she released him. "You know I'm strong, let me take care of Kid. Stay out of this, okay?"

He had expected her to be mad, but instead she spoke with care and empathy. She hadn't been mad at the fact he had beaten their friend with intentions to kill.

He had almost messed up the first time, and he was going to let Maka handle the rest of this. Just as Maka had said, she was strong and she could handle herself against Kid. She was a powerhouse and he was weak. He needed to be careful just like she said.

But still he was reluctant when he agreed.

"Save Kid."

Maka stepped in front of him and she slowly started to head toward Kid who had managed to get up on his feet even though he swayed dangerously.

"Stay still," Maka spoke softly as she held out her hands. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to free you from the madness." Gently she cupped his cheeks. Kid didn't object, but he seemed to be too caught up to even notice Maka. "Kid you are missed by all of us. We need you to return so we can get away from here together. You know how scared Liz is of scary places and you're the only one who can calm her down."

Kid's yellow eyes seemingly started to focus on her, simply staring at Maka.

"She's somewhere in this school and she needs you. We all do."

"M-m-ma… m-ma…" Kid murmured.

"Maka," she helped him. "I'm Maka."

His head tilted and leaned into her touch. "P-p… paaah… thi…"

"Patty." Maka clarified, swallowing heavily. "She…"

"Maka don't," Soul warned. "Just… don't."

She bit her lower lip as she looked over her shoulder at him. "What if this is the only way? The only two he remembers is me and her."

"Then…" his hands balled. He knew they couldn't tell him about Patty. Not now when he was in this state. If the only person other than Patty he could remember was Maka maybe… his throat knotted simply thinking about the horror he feared for so long. "He remembers you and…" he swallowed heavily. "He is important to you and… you could be to him too. Do what you have to do."

Maka looked back at Kid, her thumb ran over his cheek bone and she started leaning forward. Soul couldn't take it, he was about to look away when Maka's hands trailed down his throat and wrapped around his waist, pulling him into a hug.

What?

"Kid…" Maka whispered. "Come back…"

He inhaled loudly. "Maka…" he murmured.

A sigh of relief escaped from him when the madness seemingly started to lift from Kid.

"You're doing great, Kid. You're safe. You're with Soul and I."

"Where is Patty?" Kid questioned.

The one question they wanted Kid to stay away from.

"Why am I covered in blood?" he asked.

Another question they couldn't answer.

"Maka… what is going on?"

"You were caught by the madness, but don't worry, you're safe now."

"Thank you," Kid pulled away from Maka, stumbling slightly on his feet, holding his hand against his chin. "What did I even do? My face is hurting."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Soul said as he neared them.

"You hit me?"

"You were attacking Maka. I had to do something—"

"But it's good you're back," Maka interrupted him. "I'm glad you're back. Now we can find all of our friends."

Kid's gaze moved down to his bloody school uniform which was redder than white and blue. His gaze fixated on something on his suit. He pulled something that was caked on his arm. Soul almost wanted to puke when he pulled out a bunch of hair still stuck on a piece of scalp. If they doubted it before, they were sure now. The hair was covered in blood, but there were still some blonde pieces in there and it was in Patty's length.

Kid dropped it to the ground and backpedalled away from it. "W-w-what was that?!"

"I-I don't know," Maka denied.

Anger washed over Kid and his eyebrows knitted together. "You do know, don't you?"

"I-I…" she shook her head. "I-I don't."

"Bullshit!" Kid barked. "How did a _person's_ blood and _hair_ get onto me?"

Maka shook her head as Kid got closer and closer. "Tell me, whose it is?"

"Woah, woah, woah." Soul stood right behind Maka. "Kid calm down, we don't know whose it is—" His face whipped to the side when Kid punched him. He guessed he deserved that.

"Kid why did you do that?!" Maka yelled. "Soul has done _nothing_ to you—"

"Tell me whose blood it is!" he screamed.

"The madness in you is rising again! Calm down, okay?!"

"I will once I know who it is that's one me!"

"It's Patty!" Maka cried, biting her lower lip. "It's Patty… okay?"

The rage immediately melted off him and astonishment paralyzed Kid. He backpedalled away from them. His head lowered and his bangs covered his face. His hands shook in front of him as his breathing started to grow faster.

"The madness is growing—" Maka's voice drowned when Kid let out a scream of agony. He breathed heavily, letting out a round of screams as his hands fisted in his hair. "Kid listen to us, you need to calm down before you're caught in the madness again!"

Kid started stumbling around. His head snapped upward and he started to run toward the window. Maka screamed and the glass shattered when Kid jumped out of the window.

"KID!" Maka yelled at the top of her lungs. They ran toward the broken window and looked below, finding Kid lying down on the ground, a pool of blood growing underneath him.

He was dead.

"No!" Maka cried as he sunk down on her knees. "Why do all of our friends have to _die!_ "

Soul could barely believe it himself. They had found Patty dead and actually seeing Kid die… the Kid who was always as well-mannered and had no bad bone in his body, had actually jumped out of the window ant taken his own life.

Soul kneeled down beside Maka, placing his hand on her back. She leaned into him and buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm really sorry."

"No," she sobbed. "It was my fault."

"No, it isn't. The madness's grip on him was too strong. If you hadn't told him, I'm sure it would've still managed to overtake him somehow." He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her tightly. "We tried. We really did."

"I should've managed."

"But we didn't." Gently he caressed her spine. "I know you are hurting. Kid meant a lot to you."

"He did." She pulled away from him, wiping her tears away from her cheeks, breathing shakily as she tried to compose herself. "But we need to continue. We got to find the rest so…"

So they wouldn't arrive too late and they died was what she meant to say but didn't.

Soul nodded. Maka rose on her feet and she offered her hand to his. He grabbed it and Maka heaved him up on his feet. Silent tears fell from her eyes as they left the classroom.


	18. Miss Marie Mjolnir

Chapter 18

_Miss Marie Mjolnir_

"FUCKING SHIT!" Black*Star cursed loudly as he threw the camcorder against the wall inside of the closet. "It contained nothing!"

In the safety of the closet, he had gone through the tapes in hope the way out Justin had been talking about would be recorded. It hadn't been on the camera's memory and he had gone through all the tapes, but he could only find footage before the charm and when they had arrived back from Gallows Elementary School. There was footage of the guy Tezca Tlipoca explaining the Sachiko Ever After charm, but nothing of how they could return home.

There had been footage of when Justin had stabbed Tezca and Enrique had run away from them when Justin had tried to go after Enrique. Now they were all dead.

And so was his one way of learning what the way out was.

All of this work for nothing. He had put his trust into a maniac and almost gotten killed and _this_ was his reward? A bag with tapes with no worth, some salt, a bottle of water and shiny stones: absolutely NOTHING!

He ran his hand through his hair, exhaling loudly as he rubbed his palm on his forehead in frustration. He put his life on the line just to get a hold of the camcorder and the bag and it didn't pay off.

Fuck.

"Woah!" he exclaimed when the ground started to shake. He braced himself against the walls as the whole closet shook violently. Outside of the closet bangs sounded as stuff fell to the floor. Wood cracked loudly and he wished the ceiling didn't cave in on him. The whole closet was rocking back and worth and he struggled to help the closet stay upright. The last thing he needed was the closet falling and blocking his only way out!

He groaned as he tried to fight of the force of the shakes, when the closet was leaning one way, he would go the other way, but it was tough, even for him. The earthquake hit him with force and it was lasting a whole lot longer than he thought it would.

The earthquake slowly ebbed away and the silence hung once again inside of the small storage room with the costumes. He peaked out from the crack in the doors and saw plenty of costumes had fallen from the earthquake and boxes lay on the ground.

He stepped out of the closet, the tulle of skirts stuck in his hair and he feverously slapped it away. He huffed as he grabbed the messenger bag and threw it over his shoulder.

"Man that dude didn't know messenger bags aren't cool," he muttered under his breath.

He kicked the costumes away as he headed toward the door, accidentally he kicked something of metal. He raised his eyebrow and moved the costume away, finding the knife Justin had used. Blood was still on the blade.

At least he got _something_ of use.

He grabbed the knife, wiping the blood off on a costume and he put it away in his waistband of his pants. He put his trust in a dude in this place and he wasn't going to do the same mistake again. Next time it might kill him.

He made sure no one was around before he stepped out of the storage room. Quietly he tiptoed through the corridors.

He had enough of this place. The annex wasn't a good place to be at and he was out of here! He had enough and he was going to fuck off and get the hell away from here! He didn't care if he had to bust through walls, he wasn't staying here. Nu-uh, he had enough of people and he had enough of this place!

…

Liz shivered as she went inside of the school once again. Water dripped from her hair and skirt. Her socks made squishy sounds in her shoes as she slowly wandered through the corridors. Her soaked clothes cooled down her already freezing body. Her hands rubbed her arms as she tried juggling with the wooden board in a poor attempt at regaining some of her warmth, but she was so incredibly cold. All she needed to do was get out of her clothes and put on some dry ones, but there were no clothes. If she had to choose between a cold and her damaging her integrity by wandering around in her underwear, she would choose the cold every time.

Behind her she left a trail of water, but at the moment she didn't care. She was all alone. Tsubaki was…

Tears leaked from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. It was the worst moment of her life. She would rather take living on the streets and everything she had been through all squeezed into a week than watching her be… it was images she would never manage to escape from. Tsubaki's death would always haunt her nightmares and would for the near future.

What was the point anymore? She was all alone. All she had wanted was to hide away and simply let the danger pass, but now she was all alone. What would it do? What grand reward would she receive from surviving this? Nothing. She had lost the biggest love in her life and, it hurt. Absolutely broke her heart knowing she could've done _something_ to stop it. She could've tried harder convincing her it was a bad idea. She could've gone with her and they could've simply _not_ entered her office. _Any_ option or route was better than death.

And now she couldn't change it.

Her lower lip quivered as she leaned her shoulder against the wall, lowering her head and letting out some of the sorrow she tried to contain. Tears trickled down her cheeks and a sob left her lips. Her nails ran down her face as she slid down the wall, sitting on the floor.

All this time she had strived to live, but what the hell was left? She was all alone with no one to lean on in this crazy world. But at the same time… she wanted to _live_. She wanted to survive through this and just _live_. She wanted to return to her home and sleep in her bed and take a _looong_ bath getting the murky pond water from her hair and scrub her skin clean.

But… what else would she do?

She broke down. Crying and crying and crying. Her soaked clothes were slick on her skin and she was cold. So incredibly cold. She needed to keep on moving to maintain as much warmth as she could.

She rose back up on her feet and started walking, but something on the floor caught her attention. She raised her eyebrow and she kneeled forward, surprised to see the folder with Shibusen High's crest holding their student IDs. She grabbed it and unfolded it, freezing on the spot when she found Tsubaki's photo staring back at her. She squeaked and slapped her hand over her mouth as her heart clenched in hurt. Simply looking at her picture smiling back at her reminded of how she hadn't managed to convince her to stay away from Medusa Gorgon's office.

Sorrow knotted in her throat and her hands balled when she saw the piece of paper from the charm. Her jaw tensed as she pulled out the piece of paper from the folder.

"It's all your fault," she murmured. "If you hadn't brought up this stupid charm, none of this would've happened!" She ripped the paper scrap. She tore it in multiple pieces and threw the small pieces into the air, letting it all rain down.

She would never forgive Maka for bringing up the charm. Never in a million years would she forgive her. This was all Maka's fault. She's the first like in the chain and if she hadn't thought messing with the spirits was a good idea, Tsubaki would've still been alive and well.

Her head turned in surprise in the distance, hearing footsteps ringing in the distance. She pocketed Tsubaki's student ID and braced the wooden board and made sure the nails left at the end of the board was angled toward the noise. If the ghosts returned she sure as hell was going to give them another round of beating.

But the footsteps were of _one_ person. Not three. Good. It meant it would be easier for her to take them down.

Patiently she waited as the footsteps grew louder and louder. In the distance she could see a dark figure growing larger and larger and the working ceiling lights showed the colour blue. For the first time, she was relieved when she saw another person. As the person grew she recognized he blue spikey hair of her classmate.

"Black*Star..:" she exhaled in relief.

"Liz? What the hell happened to you?" He nodded toward her as he came to stand in front of her.

She shook her head. "Probably something similar you've been through."

"Did you also meet a sociopath who tried to kill you?"

"No, but I met three ghosts who tried to kill us repeatedly."

Black*Star raised his eyebrow. "Us?"

Liz bit her lower lip, lowering the wooden board and hugged her body.

Black*Star didn't let the silence go unnoticed. "Who was it you were with?" he persisted.

She remained quiet.

Black*Star's hands fisted. "When the earthquake hit us… I know you were close to Tsubaki. You must've seen her around here."

Simply hearing her name stabbed her heart and the images of Tsubaki's body clattering to the ground rung in her mind. Her eyes staring at her, the energy of life still fresh in her eyes as it had slowly disappeared. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over.

"No…" Black*Star growled. "No. It can't be… she isn't dead," Black*Star spoke more for himself, convincing himself his own deduction wasn't correct. Liz hadn't the heart to confirm or reject. The reality hurt her and she… she didn't want to believe she was dead. Wording the reality she had witnessed… she simply couldn't do it.

Black*Star's eyes grew glassy and he turned toward the side. Shoulders were tense and his hands were fisted to the point his knuckles were white and hands quivered. His hair doused in hairspray swayed from the force of his head shaking as if he could deny his conclusion.

"Were you with her?" Black*Star quietly asked her.

"We had separated and I…" Liz sobbed. "… I found her but it was already too late. The ghosts had cornered her and…" she shook her head, unable to utter the last words.

Black*Star's hands shook even more as tears rolled down his cheeks and dripped from his sharp jaw. "So you just let her die?"

Her head snapped toward him, anger firing up within her. Who the hell did he think she was? She _tried_ to save her! She told her it was a bad idea to continue searching for the mystery this school obviously tried to contain! But she wouldn't listen, she didn't listen and she walked into her own grave! She tried to protect her! She really did, but it wasn't enough. And… she didn't think she would _die!_ She was aware they were in a dangerous place but… what was she supposed to do?! Tsubaki had seemed so untouchable and…

"I didn't let her die!" Liz screamed. " _She_ was the one who wanted to go our separate ways! It was her idea and all she wanted was to find _you!_ What the hell were you doing? HUH?!"

"Me?!" Black*Star exclaimed. "I was in a _fucking different closed space!_ What the fuck was I supposed to do?! You were with her and you fucking let her die!"

"I tried to protect her!"

"You didn't try hard enough!" Black*Star roared, facing her. "You're fucking useless! What kind of friend are you?!"

"You don't know what it was like!" Liz screamed as tears of hurt and frustration rolled down her cheeks. "We were always hunted by the ghosts! And she wanted to keep on searching knowing the ghosts would continue chasing after us!"

"I don't give a fuck about that! If I was with her instead she would've still been _alive!_ " Black*Star sobbed as he wiped away his tears. "How the fuck can you be so weak and pathetic?!"

"It's not my fault!" Liz kept on persisting. "Don't you think I _tried?_ I tried alright and… we tried to protect each other and we really did try, but the ghosts were too strong. They were adamant at killing us."

"They picked the wrong girl to kill. Tsubaki was too kind for her own good. She didn't deserve it," he cursed as he reached his hand behind his back.

"Can't you hear what I'm saying?! We did everything we could to protect each other… it's your fault for not finding her earlier! She was searching for you!"

Black*Star growled and Liz backpedalled quickly when he pulled a knife from his waistband. She braced her wooden board, ready for whatever was going to happen.

"I will fuck you up. You couldn't protect her and… I'm going to make you pay for not protecting her better. I'm going to correct the ghosts' mistakes not killing _you_ instead of her!"

"Bring it on!" Liz sneered. "I will mess up your face!"

Black*Star let out a roar like a lion as he leapt toward her, knife held high. Liz dodged and she knocked Black*Star with her board. He growled and grabbed a hold of the plank, which she pushed it to him and knocked it in his head in order for him to release it.

It only angered him further. He swiped his knife at her and she blocked it with the board. He growled and he shoved himself against the plank. Liz gasped and backpedalled a couple of steps. Black*Star smirked smug as he jumped on his one leg.

She knew Black*Star practised martial art, and he was good since he had won competitions. She needed to be careful of him. She hadn't seen him actually fight and it made him more dangerous. But he hadn't seen what she had gone through on the streets. She knew how to protect herself and she sure wasn't going to let Black*Star get the better of her.

Black*Star dived, holding his knife high and she was ready to knock the knife out of his hand, but he dived, and swiped his knife at her ankle. She gasped and backpedalled as blood trickled down her leg. But Black*Star was still coming after her. She slammed the end of the board down on Black*Star's arm and he yelled loudly. She took the moment and slammed her foot against his head, his head banging against the floor. Before she knew it he grabbed a hold of her foot and pulled her down to the floor.

She yelped when she clattered on the floor and the board fell out of her hand. Black*Star crawled up her body and held the knife high. She grabbed his wrist. She groaned as Black*Star put all of his weight in his arm. Her hands shook as the knife came closer and closer to her neck.

She wasn't going to die.

She kneed him between his legs and he yelped in pain. In a swift movement, she grabbed the knife and turned it against him, holding the knife against his neck.

"Get off me."

Black*Star smirked wide. "As if you had the guts to kill me."

Her jaw tightened and she dug the blade into his shoulder.

He hissed loudly and she returned the bloodied knife to his neck. "What did you say?"

"You bitch," he growled. But he did as she commanded. Slowly he rose on his feet and got away from her, but she didn't trust him. The whole time she held the knife toward him, ready if he would do something.

She wasn't going to trust him. She remembered the story of the bloody letter with the two best friends who ended up killing one of them. She wasn't going to believe him or and if she did she would get the knife in her back.

"Now you're going to listen to me, you're going to turn around, and get the hell away from me," Liz spoke calmly. "Got it?"

"I'm not going without my knife."

Liz snorted. "And you think I will let you leave armed? No. I'm going to keep the knife."

"I'm not going to leave without the knife." Black*Star started taking off the messenger bag.

"What are you doing?"

Black*Star smirked sideways. "Getting my knife back."

Before she knew it, Black*Star tossed the bag at her. She slapped it away, but it was already too late. The knife was ripped from her hand and she backpedalled, diving to the board with the nails in it she had previously wielded.

Black*Star snarled as he leapt toward her, she braced the board to hit him.

"Stop it you two!"

She couldn't stop. _He_ couldn't stop. Miss Marie got in between them and Black*Star's knife dug into her shoulder and the nails on her board slammed into her ribcage.

"Miss Marie!" she screamed and let go of the board, catching Miss Marie when her legs grew unstable.

"What were you two thinking?" Miss Marie murmured as Liz carefully leaned her against the wall with Black*Star on her other side. "Turning against each other? You're supposed to be friends and stick together in this."

"But Tsubaki was with her and she's dead," Black*Star was quick to blame.

"I told you I—"

"Stop blaming each other," Miss Marie interrupted them before they could start up again. "If you're going to blame someone, blame me. I'm the adult here and it's my responsible to look after you and… I failed Tsubaki."

Black*Star's jaw tightened as he looked away from Miss Marie, but Liz caught glance of the tears making his eyes run glassy.

"You're bleeding a lot. What happened to you?" Liz's voice shook as she tried to decide which wound to pressure. Her wound in the shoulder was bleeding heavily, but so was the one in her ribcage. She… she couldn't treat them. There was no way she could stop the bleeding.

"A ghost crushed me with a lamp, but don't mind it, just…" Miss Marie moaned in pain. "… be here. And listen to me. Stop fighting. Blame me. I'm the one to blame for Tsubaki's death. I should've found you sooner and…" Miss Marie coughed loudly, rustling as she spat out blood from her mouth. "… and you got to stay together and get out of here."

"Why did you have to interfere?" Black*Star's voice shook from the tears not able to face her.

"Look at me," Miss Marie whispered.

"No."

"Please, look at me. Let me see your beautiful eyes one last time."

Reluctantly Black*Star turned toward her, tears spilling over and trickling down his cheeks. A weak smile spread on Miss Marie's face. "You asked me why I interfered… because I am you teachers and you are my responsibility. You're like my children and my heart breaks when you fight…" her hand trembled as she held her hand toward him, Black*Star grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. "… Ugh, and my body hurts so much. Y-you'll need to stick together. No more fighting, okay?"

"We promise," Liz and Black*Star said in unison.

"Good," she groaned and let out a hiss of pain. "I have to warn you though, as I was searching for you, I ran into a small child with pink hair. The child isn't normal and if you see her, you need to run, okay?"

"Yes, if we see a small child we will run away," Liz repeated.

"And… one more thing…" she breathed more shallowly. "… the closed spaces has been torn down… you can find the rest of your friends… just… work together… and survive."

"We will," they said at the same time. Slowly Miss Marie's eyes fluttered shut and her muscles relaxed.

Black*Star's hand tightened on Miss Marie's hand as he sobbed. "Fuck…" he breathed. "What kind of fucked up place is this? First Tsubaki and now…" he hiccupped.

Footsteps rung in the corridor, hurriedly they slammed against the floor and soon rounded the owners of the footsteps. She could barely believe it when it was Soul and Maka who came into sight.

"Liz! Black*Star!" Maka shone in joy when she saw them, but then her face turned to shock once her eyes set on their teacher sitting in between them, completely lifeless.

"She isn't…?" Soul asked.

Liz nodded slowly. "She's gone."

"No!" Maka exclaimed. "I wished everyone would just stop dying!"

"What happened to her?" Soul asked.

Liz could barely voice it knowing the reason she had died was because she tried to stop her and Black*Star from killing each other. She knew if it wasn't for Miss Marie… one of them would most likely be dead because she wasn't going to stop and Black*Star wouldn't have stopped. Only with Miss Marie's sacrifice could they stop.

"It's unimportant," Black*Star murmured as he laid her hand on Miss Marie's lap.

"Unimportant?" Maka exclaimed. "She's dead! How in the world could that be unimportant?"

"Maka," Soul whispered as he turned toward her, giving her hand a squeeze. "Let's focus on the bigger picture here."

Black*Star noticed Maka and Soul's entwined hands. Before the charm they would've been found across the room from each other and now they were holding hands? Black*Star knew something ought to have happened between them for something like _that_ to happen. Soul had been sure his feelings weren't mutual while Maka had consciously chosen to be romantically constipated because she didn't know when to act on her feelings. Well, better late than never.

"Oh… right. Have you seen Tsubaki?"

Black*Star's jaw tightened and he stood up, turning his back away from them and he crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't going to go through this conversation again. He knew whose fault it was, and it wasn't his. If he had been with Tsubaki, she would've still been alive at this moment. Liz neglected her and let her die. She might as well have killed her. But he wasn't going to engage in that debate again. Miss Marie had died for them in vain. That was the heartless truth.

"She…" Liz shook her head.

Soul's eyes fluttered shut as he nodded, understanding what she meant. "Then it is just us."

"What do you mean just us?" Liz sneered. "We're still missing Kid and Patty!"

"No, they are also… you know," Soul said as Maka stared down at the ground, hand tightly gripping Soul's as she leaned into him.

"No they aren't," Liz insisted as she stood up on her feet. "No they aren't! They are still _alive!_ "

"I'm sorry, they aren't," Soul explained. "We found Patty's body and… Kid killed himself."

"No… no!" Liz screamed as new tears welled in her eyes.

It couldn't be. Her sister… Kid… there is no way. Her small little family was… it simply couldn't be! The two people who were her family. There is no way they could be dead! She refused to accept it!

The tears stung in her eyes as she felt her heart breaking all over again. "Tsubaki… Kid… Patty," her voice cracked. "They are all dead because of you!" Liz screamed, facing Maka. Her head snapped up and she stared back at Liz with wide eyes full of shock and hurt. "If it weren't for you and that stupid charm none of this would've happened!"

"You're wrong!" Soul growled. "She didn't know any of this would've happen!"

"No," Maka spoke and she bit her lower lip. "She is right. It is my fault."

And Soul saw all of his hard work convincing her that their arrival here had nothing to do with her, came crashing down. All of his hard work to get her to focus on solutions rather than the cause, was all gone because of Liz.

"No fuck you Liz!" Soul sneered. "None of us knew this would've happened! We were all as clueless as Maka and anyone of us could've disagreed and not participated in the charm, it's not only Maka's fault, it is _all_ of our fault! We all brought this on ourselves."

"Soul… this is my fault—"

"No, shut up," Soul interrupted Maka. "You're not going to shoulder this all alone. We are all to blame for it, including Tsubaki, Patty, Kid and Miss Marie."

"No how dare you blame them for their own deaths," Liz growled.

"Yes I do because none of us are going to shoulder this alone. They could've survived as long as we have but they didn't."

Liz broke down. Tears trickled down her cheeks and she wiped the tears away "You are a fucking dick," Liz sobbed. "Don't you see? My whole family is dead. Patty, Kid, Tsubaki… they're all _dead_. I'm the only one left and…" she shook her head and slammed her fist against the wall. "… while _you two_ have gained _something_."

"You think this is _easy_ for us?" Maka finally spoke up. "We _saw_ Kid die. We tried to save him but… he chose to end it instead. We have gone through things _just_ to bring down the closed spaces. We could've been safe, but we chose to return here just so we could work together with you to get you out of Gallows Elementary School too."

"Boo-fucking-hoo!" Liz rolled her eyes. "How sad for you."

"Can you all just shut the fuck up!" Black*Star whipped around and sneered at them. "Miss Marie wanted us to work together to get out of here!"

"Exactly, so have you two discovered how we can get out of here?" Soul asked.

Liz bit her lower lip, crossing her arms over her chest and shook her head.

"I met a dude who said he had jumped between Gallows Elementary School and the real world, but he never told me how," Black*Star said.

"Where is he now? Maybe he could help us," Maka asked with hope in her voice.

"Nah, he's dead and his two co-workers are too."

The little hope that had swelled within Maka was crushed into pieces.

"I grabbed his stuff and his camcorder." Black*Star gestured toward the messenger bag lying on the floor. "I went through the camcorder and the tapes and they haven't filmed how they escaped from here."

Maka went over to the messenger bag, opening the lid. "Black*Star…" Maka whispered. "There are crystals and— and salt! These are actually useful stuff!" Maka whipped her head around to look at Soul. "Do you remember the door with the sealing tags? With these items we could possibly unseal it!"

"Wait, woah, woah, woah, are we sure it is a good idea?" Black*Star said.

"I didn't feel an evil presence behind it. Maybe we could learn something more from whatever is inside of there."

"The only thing that's inside of the door is Justin's co-worker…" he silenced when realization hit him. "… he _knows_ the way out!"

"We need to go back to the door! We can unseal and then we will find out how we will get away from here!" Maka stood up and grabbed the messenger bag, throwing it over her shoulder.

"Wait! What are we going to do with Miss Marie?" Liz asked.

As much as Soul disliked leaving behind their teacher… but they had to. She was no longer alive. Her body was only a shell. A thing. Now it was only a casing and there wasn't anything they could do for her.

Soul went over to her and set his hand on her back, putting a little pressure for her to move forward, but she only went rigid. "She would've wanted us to leave her. She's smart, she knew we couldn't bring her with us." He once again put some pressure and this time, she started walking.

They all headed toward the annex where the sealed door was. Black*Star and Maka went beside each other and Soul and Liz went behind them.

"I don't get it," Liz whispered for only Soul to hear. "How you could be so calm about this. The reason we are in this mess is because of the charm and… Black*Star isn't to be trusted."

"Listen, I'm scared too about all of this, but you got to remove yourself from the equation and see the bigger picture."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"I get it you lived a tough life on the streets and because of that you're hyper-critical and distrusting in nature, but we aren't going to escape from here if we don't work together."

Liz went silent. "You know it's pathetic how wrapped around her pinkie finger you are. I preferred it when you and Maka weren't on speaking terms."

"And before the charm you were her biggest cheerleader for her to start dating someone."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not the same person anymore."

"I've noticed."

They were silent. Soul went beside her with his hands in his pockets.

In front of them went Black*Star and Maka who were sharing their small talk themselves. "So… holding hands, huh?" Black*Star spoke.

"Don't," she rejected him.

"What? It's not every day I see you holding hands with a dude. Especially when the dude is the one you think about when you flick your pearl."

Maka rolled her eyes and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Do we have to talk about it?"

"Now might be the only time we can talk," Black*Star turned toward her. "What happened?"

Maka inhaled loudly and her grip on Soul's leather jacket tightened. "… I don't even know if it was anything he did."

"Fine, what _didn't_ he do?"

"I think it was me the whole time," she confessed. "He… he was the same he had always been and… the whole time he was always kind, patient and he always put me before himself and… he almost died." Her eyes closed and her heart stung when she remembered the horror when he held the knife to his throat and when he fell down in the pool. "Then… there happened something in the broom closet."

"What happened in the broom closet?"

Her cheeks flushed simply thinking of their naked skins against each other's and their heated kissed. "We made out and…"

"Did you do the deed?"

She shook her head. "Other stuff, just not _that_."

"Do you like him?"

She turned toward him and her eyes were wide. "I… I'm attracted to him…"

"But do you want a relationship with him?"

She went silent.

"Then let me make it easier for you. I know you like Kid too, but which hurt you more. Seeing Soul almost dying or watching Kid dying?"

She couldn't answer it. At least not verbally, but he heart loudly screamed the name of the one male who would absolutely crush her. She knew exactly who and… it terrified her a little, but why were she? All this time… he had given her everything she had needed and more. Stayed incredibly loyal and… all this time. Why had she been afraid?

She breathed shakily as she let her hand run through her bangs. "How long have you known?"

He snorted. "So you finally know?"

She nodded.

"I'm your childhood friend. I know you, you know. I know how you work and I know how you are when you like someone but you're guarding your heart." He placed his palm on her shoulder. "I would never encourage you to walk into someone's arms if I suspected the guy would hurt you. You're in good hands and he needs a girl like you."

"Y-you think so?" she swallowed heavily as nervousness started to settle in her throat. "You really mean it?"

"Of course I do." Black*Star chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her close to him. "I don't know what it is about you, but seeing you in this shithole of a mess… I feel a whole lot more relaxed."

"You have no idea." She wrapped her own arm around his waist. "This has been a complete nightmare. I'm happy you're still alive."

"Me too."

"I'm… I'm really sorry about Tsubaki. I knew you liked her a lot. It's true that if it wasn't for me, everybody would've still been alive."

It was like a punch to the gut, but he held it all in. His grip on Maka's shoulder tightened and he brought her closer. "It fucking sucks, but Soul is right. It's not your fault. We knew just as little as you did about the charm and we all made our own choices in here." His jaw tensed as sorrow rooted in his throat. "But it still sucks really badly."

"I wish there was something I could do…"

"Don't die. That's all you've to do. You can't go and die too."

A smile spread on her face and she patted his hand on her shoulder. "We are all going to get out of here alive," she said as they went up to the door in the annex.

The door was still covered in the sealing papers and Maka's heart started beating faster and harder in her chest. Those crystals simply had to work. It was all they had to go on for finding the way out of Gallows Elementary School. That and destroying Medusa, but that was even harder to deal with than unsealing the door. All their success hung onto the fact she remembered right what those crystals are in the bag, and it simply had to be unsealing crystals.

"This is the door?" Liz asked with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah," Black*Star confirmed.

For the first time, Maka noticed how much Liz was shivering. She was in a horrible state with leaves in her hair and her usual pearl white uniform was soaked and murky. Maka took off the messenger bag, handed it to Black*Star. She unzipped Soul's leather jacket and she held it out toward Liz.

"It is still a little bit wet, but it will warm you up a little."

Liz's eyes turned to slits as her gaze shifted between the jacket and Maka. Maka sensed her apprehension and she turned to Soul.

"You're okay with her using it, right?" she asked him.

"Of course. Go ahead and borrow it."

With Soul's approval, Liz grabbed the jacket and slid her arms through the sleeves, zipping it. She raised her eyebrow at the blood on the leather jacket. "Where did all the blood come from?"

Maka gulped and she shrugged her shoulder. "When we ran into Kid, he had some blood on him and it got on the jacket."

"Eh, Maka," Black*Star cleared his throat and he pointed toward his own chest.

Maka rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a baby." She took back the messenger bag and she started searching for the crystal. She found it and she held it in front of the doors. Her heart hammered in her chest as she came close to the door. The crystal cracked in her hand. Repeatedly cracks ran through the crystal until it completely shattered in her hand. The paper seals on the door were engulfed in flames and burned up, leaving the door bare and unlocked.

"It worked." Black*Star breathed.

"Of course it did. It's a crystal of unsealing," she played tough even though she had been nerves herself. "Let's see if his ghost can help us." She pushed the door open and she gasped loudly in horror.

Bodies… there were so many bodies inside. It was as if a massacre had taken place. Bodies were everywhere, on desks, floors and… there was a noose hanging from the ceiling and right below it were a skeleton with its head and body severed by the neck.

"What the fuck happened here?" Black*Star murmured.

"Madness," Maka answered. Her arms crossed over her chest and she started rubbing her arms. "I… I can feel… a student had gone mad and… he turned against his classmates and… this is the result."

"How do you know?" Liz asked.

"Because she is very blessed."

They all jumped in shock at the unknown voice. The room lit up with a blue shine when a spirit rose from a corpse and straightened his back.

"You're Tezca Tlipoca," Black*Star murmured.

Maka's head snapped toward Black*Star. "It was _the_ Tezca Tlipoca?!" Maka exclaimed. "I'm a huge fan of your work! I've followed your research and stories on the occult and it truly is very exciting! Your story about the man in the mirror truly was—" Soul cleared his throat and immediately her cheeks flushed. "I-I'm sorry."

Tezca Tlipoca chuckled heartily as he jumped on top of the teacher's desk. "Of course you would be a fan of the occult. It's in your soul."

Maka raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You might've heard of the term soul sensor before, yes?"

Maka nodded. "Yes, it's an individual who can sense the different energies of souls, an example is the soul sensor can sense when a person is happy or sad."

"Correct, but have you ever heard of the term grigori?"

Her eyebrows knitted together and she shook her head. "No, I haven't."

"I would be surprised if you did. It's incredibly rare and not many have managed to meet someone to gather enough research about them to ever publish something about it. A grigori is an individual who can sense the souls' energies, but it also has a very special soul. It is rumoured to have an anti-madness wavelength that can cancel out any kind of craziness."

"What are you saying?" Black*Star asked.

"Let me explain by asking you all a question. When you're in Maka's presence, do you suddenly feel calmer and more grounded? Does it feel like you can think more clearly and you start questioning your actions you did when you weren't around her."

It hit Black*Star like a truck. Before Maka… he had been on his way to _kill_ Liz all because of his thought it was Liz who killed her. Indirectly or directly didn't matter, she was the one who got Tsubaki killed. Once Maka had arrived, he had felt a whole lot calmer and more collected. If… what if Maka hadn't arrived? Would he or Liz have been dead then?

It hit Soul too. Every moment he had felt at peace with Maka, but as soon as they were a little further apart from each other, his mind had started to wander. At first he had simply thought it was the tongues' fault. They were after all sources of madness but… maybe it had always been Maka who warded off the madness. When Maka had been asleep… the madness from the tongues had influenced him. When he had gone quite a few steps in front of him and Giriko had rounded the corner… and when Maka had gone inside of the pool room and he had been left inside of the locker room… he had completely lost himself to the madness. All this time, they had put the blame on the tongues when they should've focused on _why_ he was still sane; it was because of Maka.

Liz had experienced it too. She had hated Maka with a passion for bringing the charm up, but once she was present, it had been toned down, but she still hated her. There was still a part of her who couldn't forgive Maka even though she saw it from their perspective. She didn't know this would happen… but she still couldn't forgive her. Kid, Tsubaki and Patty were gone… her entire close social network was just… gone. The small circle of people she could trust was all gone.

"So I can keep the madness away from them by being close to them?" Maka asked.

"I have never met a Grigori before… but simply being in the same room as you I can feel your calming soul wavelength and how it drives away the madness."

"But wait," Soul interrupted. "When we had arrived at Gallows Elementary School, she was caught by the madness momentarily. She had stumbled around and she had repeatedly hit the ground. How had the madness gotten a hold of her then?"

"Say, have you ever been caught up in a flow of creativity?"

"Yes."

"That's exactly what it was. When you're focusing and in the moment, sometimes what you're doing can completely consume you, and that is what happened to her. She focused on the energies, sensing them until she was caught up by their energy."

Maka's gaze had moved down to her bruised knuckles. "So that was what it was…"

"Okaay, but do you know the way out of here?" Liz asked, growing impatient by the talk about soul sensing and all that crap. All she wanted was to know about the way out.

"Of course I do," Tezca said.

"What is it?"

"Do you all have your paper pieces from the charm?"

Black*Star pulled up his student ID from his pocket and unfolded it, finding the piece right in front of his ID by his picture. Liz had pulled up hers and found her piece of paper still there. Maka retrieved her student ID and opened it to find the piece still there, Soul nervously eyeing the student ID.

Tezca raised his eyebrow questioningly at Soul. "Where is yours?"

"I've lost it."

Tezca clicked his tongue as he waggled his finger disapprovingly at him. "That is not good. You will have to find a piece from your paper doll you used to get away from here."

Liz's heart hammered in her chest. "What are you talking about?" she asked quickly.

"The way to get out of here is by performing the Sachiko Ever After charm again, but what you need to do differently is to add another chant for Sachiko herself. In other words, you will need to chant five times for all of you."

Liz squeaked as she slapped her hands over her mouth. Her friends worriedly gazed toward her as she backpedalled into a desk. "I'm so sorry," she murmured. "I'm so, so, _so_ sorry!"

Soul raised his eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I found Tsubaki's student ID and inside of it was her piece from the charm and I…"

"What did you do?!" Maka exclaimed.

"… I ripped it to pieces."

Maka's legs gave in and she fell down to the floor. "No… oh no…"

"I'm so sorry Soul! I wouldn't have done it if I had known!"

Soul's eyes had fluttered shut. He couldn't take it. He turned his back on his friends and he ran his hand through his hair. When he chose to return to Gallows Elementary School with Maka, he had expected he would most likely stayed behind, but… he had hoped somehow there would be a way for him to return back with Maka and everyone else. Now… his fate was to stay behind. There wasn't a possibility he could return.

"There has to be a way!" Black*Star exclaimed. "There has to be a way he can return without a piece!"

Tezca shook his head slowly. "No. All you can hope for now is to find one of your deceased friend's paper scrap. If they were killed by the ghosts or Giriko, it's not on them. Only if you have lost your paper scrap you can be killed by the ghosts."

Soul exhaled loudly and he turned away, putting on a brave face. "I'll be okay. You can return without me and I will search for one of theirs."

"Even if you happened to find a piece of the paper doll, you still wouldn't be able to return. There has to be at least two people to be able to perform the charm."

"Then I will stay behind," Maka said.

"You know that is crazy talk," Soul fired back. "There's no way I'm going to let you stay behind in this place. No. You all have already been through enough. Get the hell out of here while you still have the chance."

"No! I'm not going to abandon you!" Maka exclaimed and she rose on her feet. "We are a team in this! I'm not going to leave you beh—"

Tezca loudly cleared his throat. "And you can't use the charm to return at this time. You've still time to search for his piece of the paper doll."

"Hold on, we can't return back home _yet?_ " Black*Star said incredulously.

"Exactly. It's the same reason my crew couldn't get away from here." Tezca sighed. "We thought we had more time before this place would become a one way ticket to hell, but Medusa's hold on this realm has grown too strong quicker than we anticipated."

"What has happened?" Maka asked.

"She wants to generate as much madness as possible in this place in order to grow stronger."

"But we have already given the ghosts and Giriko back their tongues," Soul spoke.

"It was a start to tear down Medusa's powers, but it isn't enough. By returning the tongues, you only took down the pillars of this place and therefore broke down the different dimensions, but the shell around this place is too strong to break through, you will need to take down the foundation of this place if the shell will weaken enough for you to get away from here."

They weren't finished. There was still more to do. And the thought made Maka a lot more relieved, almost as if she had prayed there was a way to stall their escape from this place.

"Miss Marie mentioned something about a ghost with pink hair," Liz began. "The three ghosts I've noticed didn't have pink hair and… is she the foundation you're talking about?"

"You mean Sachiko?" Maka clarified.

Tezca nodded. "Yes. Sachiko is Medusa's most important experiment and the base of this place. You can't get here without the Sachiko Ever After charm after all."

"Giriko severed her tongue, we will need to find her tongue and return it to her." Maka concluded. "Has anyone seen a tongue?"

Her friends shook their heads and Tezca sighed heavily. "You won't get anywhere if you don't have that tongue."

"Alright, fine, let's go on a hunt for the tongue then." Black*Star said.

"Wait," Tezca stopped them. "I suggest you stay close to your grigori."

"Who, me?" Soul astonishingly pointed to himself.

"Yes, you, and I suggest you stay as far away from Medusa and Sachiko as you can."

Maka's gaze moved between Soul and Tezca. "Why?"

"I didn't have the time to research much of Sachiko, all I know she is more prone to madness. I can feel something similar coming from you and… it's quite unnerving. If Medusa felt the same coming from you, I don't know what she would do."

The response was immediate from Maka, she crossed to his side and she grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers together. "He will stay close to me. I'm not going to let Medusa get close to you."

Soul smiled kindly toward Maka in appreciation.

"Now come on let's leave and search for the tongue! We don't have all the time in the world!" Black*Star exclaimed.

"But does anyone know where to start?" Maka asked. "It would go a whole lot quicker if I knew where to start searching than searching the whole place."

Liz's jaw tightened and she crossed her arms over her chest. "There is a place where we could search…" Liz began. "… when Tsubaki and I separated, she wanted to investigate Medusa's office. I had found her and the ghosts in the office but… I don't know if she actually found something in there."

"It is a logical place to start. We should head there, then we will need to go down the underground system where Sachiko and Medusa ought to be," Maka said.

"T-t-the underground system?!" Black*Star yelled. "Do we really have to go down there?"

"Yes we do, it's where Sachiko's body is buried and where her body is, she will be there. The way down is in Medusa's classroom."

Tezca let out a hearty chuckle. "My team and I have been searching for a way down in the underground system and all this time, it was in the very woman's classroom. How fools we were for not finding it."

They said their goodbyes to Tezca Tlipoca and Liz started showing them the way to Medusa's office.


	19. Black*Star

Chapter 19

_Black*Star_

On the way Maka explained everything she found out from Giriko's memories. All of the details of how they could reach the underground system and every little bit of knowledge she possessed, she shared it with her friends.

"Now when I've told you all I know," Maka began. "I know this will be dangerous and I'm aware not all of us will make it out of there but… I want all of you to be prepared to give up your student ID to Soul."

"Are you crazy?!" Liz raised her voice. "If someone's going to die it should be him."

"It could be him, but it can also be one of us, and if one of us should die, that person has to give their piece of the paper doll to Soul."

"Alright, I'm cool with it." Black*Star shrugged his shoulders. "It's not a big deal. If we die, we die and we can save Soul's life instead."

"But you should all hold onto your student IDs. Don't give it up until you are sure of it." Soul said. "I'm not going to take it if you all can still escape."

It silent Liz. She slowed down a little until she came to stand by Black*Star's side. "I have to give you something," she whispered for only him to hear. She pulled up Tsubaki's student ID and held it out to him. "You should have it. When Tsubaki and I separated… she wanted to go and find you and tell you she loves you very much. I'm sure she wanted you to have it."

Black*Star's lower lip quivered as he took the student ID. He opened it up and was met with Tsubaki's photo staring back at him. "Thank you," he whispered. "Did she really say that? Did she really love me?"

"She did. And she wanted you to know. It was the one thing she desperately wanted you to know."

His eyes fluttered shut as he closed the student ID and placed it in his pocket. "She cared about you too," he started. "You were her best friend and she really did hold you dearly. She loved you too, you know."

"She loved you more," she said. "It's you who she wanted a relationship with, not me."

Black*Star became silent, instead he kept his hand in his pocket and caressed the plastic folder.

The closer they came to Medusa's office, Maka could feel the madness growing stronger. It stirred her nerves and her grip on Soul grew tighter. With Tezca's warning fresh on her mind, she wasn't going to let him go. Now knowing how horrible things could've gone for Soul if he hadn't arrived to Gallows Elementary School with her… she was scared. Scared out of her mind because she couldn't handle to lose him. Not now. Not ever.

"Do you think Miss Marie still has her paper scrap?" Maka asked.

"I doubt it. The dude said someone if ghosts attacked you, you had already lost your piece and she said she was attacked by a ghost before, so, I guess she doesn't have it on her," Black*Star answered.

The little hope Maka felt was crushed in her gut again. Now they were simply playing on chance. Kid was out of their reach and they didn't know if he had his piece of paper on him or if he had lost it and Patty… they could find it but it was most likely not. The only way Soul could be saved is if he was given one of their paper scrap.

Someone had to stay behind.

And it would be Soul.

They turned in the small nook of a corridor and Maka inhaled loudly when the wave of madness hit her. It was dense and… her first instinct was to turn around and run away from there.

"Stop," Liz spoke before her. Maka and Soul faced her. "I need to warn you again. In there… it's there Tsubaki was killed."

"Then you two should stay behind," Maka said. "You shouldn't see her like this."

Black*Star nodded. He knew he couldn't handle it. He couldn't handle seeing her dead body. He had a hard time seeing just a dead body and actually seeing Tsubaki gone… it was too much for him to handle.

"Be careful." Was all Black*Star could say.

Soul and Maka headed toward Medusa's office and they found her name by the door. When they peeked inside… there was no body. None at all. They could see a stain of blood but… there was no body.

"She isn't there," Maka spoke loud enough for her friends to hear.

"She is gone?!" Liz exclaimed. "But- But _how?!_ "

"Giriko has taken her," Black*Star crossed his arms over his chest. "I've seen how he has taken bodies… I've heard he has taken them down to the underground system."

"Oh great, so when we head down to the underground system we will see a whole lot more of corpses and possibly hers? Oh this is just great," she said sarcastically.

Soul had been about to head inside of the office when Maka's grip on his hand tightened and she tugged him away from it. "Don't," she warned. "I can feel a strong source of madness in there and…" she squint her eyes as if it would help her sense the energy better. "I don't really know what to make of it, but we simply can't go inside of there without protection."

Soul raised his eyebrow and with her free hand she had opened the messenger bag and she retrieved a hand full of the salt. She threw it inside and immediately the salt diminished, but they left a void before the madness filled it up immediately.

"We can't carelessly walk inside or else we will also get ourselves killed."

"Then what will we do?" Soul questioned.

"I'm going to walk inside and you will wait outside," Maka began. "There's a lot of madness in there and I'm not going to subject you to it even if you are by my side." She released Soul's hand and she pulled the messenger bag off of her. She retrieved the bag of salt and she held it in her hands. She retrieved the bottle of holy water and held it out to Soul. "I hope you know a biblical verse of something."

"Uh, I don't?"

"Fine, just splash it onto me. It will have to do."

He didn't question her. He splashed the holy water on her, and for good measure, he splashed some on his finger and drew a cross on her torso. If they were going to go all in, he was going to go all in.

"Okay, have the bottle of holy water ready when I come out," Maka said before she took a step inside of the classroom.

Immediately the madness started to nibble on her skin and chills started to run down her spine. She shivered as she ran her hand down in the bag and retrieved a fist of salt. She threw the salt to combat the madness as she went deeper in the office. On the floor was a folder. She opened the folder and found a lot of missing children reports.

It could help them.

Maka followed the madness in the room and the desk oozed of the maddening energy. Standing in front of it made her fingers tingle and the hair on her arms to rise.

The sound of a tongue smacking right behind Soul's ear had him jumping in the air away from the source and he was met by the vision of Lady Arachne. "Woah! What the fuck are you doing here?" He earned the attention of all his friends.

"You have come quite far, youngsters. I'm very surprised you are still alive," Lady Arachne casted a glance in Liz's direction. "Especially you. Poor, poor scared little girl. I thought you would be one of the first who would bite the dust."

"What are you doing here?" Maka asked from within the room.

"Just checking in on my favourite entertainers." She unfolded her feather fan and covered her mouth. "But I am curious, why are only you inside and your friends cowering outside?"

"Don't!" Maka exclaimed. "You aren't going to fool us. None of them are going to come inside!"

"You…" Liz growled loudly as she pointed her finger at Lady Arachne. "It's because of you Tsubaki is dead! It's you who gave her the folder and got her consumed with this shit!"

Lady Arachne snorted as she waggled her fan disapprovingly at Liz. "Oh no little girl, I simply gave you the material for success, but you were the ones who got yourself killed."

Something was wrong. Something was _horribly_ wrong. Maka knew it. The madness in the room probed at her presence within it and now when Lady Arachne arrived… something was wrong. She had learned Anya, Meme, Tsugumi and Giriko had all been controlled by the madness and… there was a huge possibility she was controlled too. Giriko was the one who killed her, but Giriko had been dragged to this place, and she was sure Lady Arachne had been too. After all, she had been involved in all of this, except her job had been to keep Giriko in the business. Medusa was controlling Lady Arachne and… but if Medusa was controlling Lady Arachne, what had she to gain by giving them clues? She had been the one to tip them about keeping their paper scraps close to them and the importance of the tongue. In order to receive, first you have to give. She must be mixing in the truth with the lies in order to throw them off.

And her presence here was to throw them off their search. Tsubaki had died in this very room and it was for a reason and… the ghost trio and Giriko had made sure the tongues were cut off to keep them in silence and in control. Lady Arachne very much had her tongue. Did that mean… she somewhat had control but at the same time not? Maybe it was possible she sincerely wanted to help them, but due to the madness she was controlled by her sister?

So what part of her were they meeting? The part who wanted to help them or the controlled part?

Her eyes focused on Lady Arachne, her senses sharpened as she tried to sense the energy in her. Somehow… she wasn't of the same energy like Giriko and the ghosts were. Lady Arachne was just as she suspected, not completely controlled by Medusa, but… there were tendrils of madness sipping into her body and…

She is controlled.

The reason struck her like lightning. Lady Arachne was stalling her. If Sachiko's tongue was here, the foundation of this place, this room was guarded. The madness pooling in this room was overwhelming and Medusa was the one controlling it. Medusa knew she was inside of her office. And Lady Arachne was just here, stalling them while the ghosts and Giriko headed toward them.

"Stop talking to her!" Maka screamed as she quickly started to go through Medusa's desk. "She's only stalling us for the ghosts and Giriko to arrive here to kill us!"

"Holy shit!" Black*Star exclaimed. "What the fuck can we do?"

"Go and hide! I will be right behind you as soon as I find the tongue!"

"Go!" Soul yelled, hands slamming on the door frame. "I will stay with Maka. Go and hide in the closest classroom."

"Don't die!" Liz exclaimed she turned on her heel and fleeing, Black*Star reluctantly left, following after Liz.

Maka pulled out the drawers and out spilled homework sheets, textbooks and notebooks. She growled in annoyance and she drew out a drawer, her throbbing loudly when her eyes set on a bloody bag and a stuffed white animal. In this room of madness… the animal gave off a calming energy, a complete opposite of the madness surrounding her. Without thinking further about it, she grabbed the stuffed white rabbit and the tongue bag, she was about to leave the classroom when a familiar scrunchie caught her attention. Before she could stall further, she grabbed the scrunchie and ran out of the office.

Before Maka even had time to ask, Soul poured the holy water on her and they ran out of the small corridor. The stairway by the corridor creaked from Giriko's familiar footsteps and they dived into the nearest classroom, closing the door after them the moment Giriko made it downstairs.

They hunched down by the door, hearing Giriko's footsteps as he headed inside of the corridor where Medusa's office was. Maka noticed Soul's eyes transfixed on the tongue bag in her hands, his jaw was tense and his hands opened and closed. She placed the things quietly behind her back, out of his sight and she grabbed his hand, offering him a comforting smile.

It was exactly what Soul needed. Even though he was still pulled to her back where he knew the tongue bag was, it helped having it out of his sight. All he could think about was grabbing the tongue bag and keeping it close to him, but he feared himself if he did knowing what Tezca had told them about him. He… he _really_ didn't want to turn to the madness like Kid had.

He clung onto her hand, entwining their fingers and giving it a hearty squeeze of appreciation.

They waited until Giriko had checked Medusa's office, went out in the corridor and left. Even then they waited for a couple of minutes until they were sure they were safe. Out from behind two desks, Liz and Black*Star stood up.

"Did you get it?" Black*Star asked.

Maka nodded. "We need to head to Medusa's classroom and head down to the underground system," she announced. They all agreed.

Maka placed the stuffed rabbit and the tongue bag in her messenger bag. She pulled the hair strands from the scrunchie and let it fall to the ground before she held it out toward Liz.

"Here," she offered it.

Liz's eyes widened. "That's Tsubaki's scrunchie."

"I found it in the room. I thought you might want to have it."

Liz nodded and she accepted it. She pulled at her hair and she put her own hair up in a high ponytail just like Tsubaki always did. Now she had gotten her own token to remember Tsubaki by.

"Thank you," Liz said.

Maka waved it away. "It was nothing."

They exited the classroom as quietly as they could. Maka lead them around the school to Medusa's classroom. She followed the route Giriko had showed her in his memories and soon enough, they had found the classroom. It was a classroom equipped for science and it was like any other science classroom, but she knew it hid one secret. She headed to the back of the classroom where the bookcase was. On the floor were marks from moving the bookcase back and forth. With the help of Black*Star, she and him moved it aside and just like in the memories, there was a hatchet in the small space in the wall. Black*Star opened the hatchet and there was the ladder down to the underground system.

Black*Star decided to climb down the ladder first, and then it was Maka's turn. She settled on the ladder and Soul stood by her side. She started climbing down and Soul was right behind her. As soon as she was down alongside Black*Star, she let her hand rest on Soul's back as he settled on the ground before their hands would entwine.

"Stay by my side, and whatever happens, don't get close to Medusa under any circumstances," Maka reminded Soul and he agreed.

The underground system was nothing like Soul thought it would be. It was far scarier. It was quite dark from the exception of the light at the end of the tunnel. And it was cramp. It was _very_ small. Quite claustrophobic. The small space along with the humid air had his heart hammering in his chest and his hand grew disgustingly clammy, but Maka didn't mind. Instead she sensed his uneasiness and tightened her hold on him as she brushed her shoulder against his. She knew exactly how to comfort him.

"Ugh, this place sure does smell," Black*Star muttered as he held his nose.

"Yeah, you never get used to this smell," Soul commented.

Black*Star huffed. "Let's just get his over with quickly." He gestured forward. "Lead the way miss spiritual."

Maka nodded and she led the way, keeping Soul slightly behind herself while they headed deeper into the pit.

She could remember everything as if it had been her being in the underground system. Simply from sharing Giriko's memories, she had become familiar and she knew exactly what was behind the doors.

They headed deeper into the underground system and just in her memories, the dirt walls disappeared and they came out into a corridor where the military bunker started. The same rooms and corridors they used for their freakish activity.

"Woah… so this is the military bunker system, huh?" Black*Star asked.

"Yes. The place where Sachiko is buried is just up ahead," Maka said as she nodded in the direction.

"What is behind the doors?" Liz asked.

"Some of them are rooms where they kept tools, one of where Sachiko was kept as a prisoner. There're a lot of rooms where they used to get rid of the bodies or rooms where they prepped the corpses and cut off their tongues. In one of the rooms is where Tsugumi, Meme and Anya's bodies are," Maka explained. "We shouldn't look into any of the rooms. They're disgusting and quite horrifying."

"So… since Tsubaki was taken from the place where she died… she is most likely somewhere here?" Liz questioned.

"I suppose so," Maka began. She stopped and she turned toward Liz. "I know what you are thinking, but going and searching for her isn't a good idea. It doesn't change the fact she is…" her voice faltered and her gaze fell to the floor. "You know. We got to stick together so we don't lose each other. We're so close at getting out of here."

Liz crossed her arms over her chest. "I know," she sighed, running her hand through her hair and burying her hand in her face. "Believe me, I know… but I just can't help but to feel as if we are doing wrong. Those ghosts killed Tsubaki and… we're supposed to help them? We're supposed to free them? I just… I-I can't."

"It is hard," Soul spoke. "Those ghosts have hurt our friends and it's hard to do this, but we got to think about the bigger picture. If we do the correct charm now, we won't be able to escape. We need to return the tongue in order to get out of here."

Liz inhaled shakily and she nodded. "Just… let's get it over with."

Maka understood and they headed deeper into the underground system. The lamps in the ceiling flickered as their footsteps resonated in the cement corridors. As they headed down, she recalled all the particular room. She knew if she was to open the door to the right, she would find the wooden table with dried blood stains on it and buckets and buckets littering the room with either containing blood or tongues. She knew if she was to open up the door on the left, she would find a room where they discarded the bodies and blood, creating a pool of blood and human remains. The military bunkers had become an underground place for them to hide their disgusting crimes and their torture porn. It was absolutely disgusting and those images were pictures she would never forget.

Maka's heart hammered in her chest as they neared the one room where the torture and killing took place by Sachiko, and where Giriko had decided to bury her.

They reached the door and she held her breath. She reached for the door handle and she pushed it open. The door loudly shrieked open and the single lamp hanging from the ceiling lit up the dark room. Right by the door entrance was Giriko's body still hanging from the noose. By the edge of the room was Sachiko's body buried, right where Giriko had broken the floor and dumped her body for her to rot. From the hole in the ground, she could sense an overwhelming sensation of the madness. It jabbed at her sanity and clawed at her mind, trying to force into her sanity and fill her to the brim until her consciousness was lost forever.

Soul inhaled loudly and she felt how the madness did the same for him and her other friends. The madness snaked around their minds, trying to find an opening to seep inside and poison their minds—

"Maka…" Soul whispered.

Her grip on his hand tightened and she pulled him closer to her, offering him her warmth and she hoped also her anti-madness wavelength Tezca had told her about reached him better now. His eyes fluttered shut and he visibly swallowed, but he squeezed her hand back, thanking her for her gesture. She sensed that the madness probing his consciousness started to grow weaker.

It was working.

"Stay close to me," Maka spoke with power.

Black*Star and Liz grew close to her as they headed inside of the room, rounding Giriko's body. The exact room Anya, Meme, Tsugumi and so many other kids had died of tragic causes. All at the hands of the one child they were going to set f—

"GEH OUH"

All of them jumped when the loud booming voice of a child rung in the room. From the place where Sachiko is buried colours started to rise up. Black and pink started to form and before they knew it, on the floor landed the child Sachiko.

"Sachiko—"

"HEAVE!" Sachiko's voice boomed and the very ground they stood on shook from the force. Simply being in her presence made the air vibrate with power and the ground shook. Even though the girl was tiny and only bones hiding under her black robe, it sure didn't match the voice. It didn't help the fact the girl was without her tongue and had a lisp.

"Sachiko, we are here to help you," Maka braced herself and spoke with as much confidence and authority she could muster in her frightened body.

"HEAVE!"

Laughter echoed in the room, a voice unlike from any voice they had heard at Gallows Elementary School, except for Maka. Once she had heard that voice. When they had been exploring the corridors and she had taken a second break, she had heard a voice threatening to bash her head, it was the same voice.

"You fool, do you really think you can reach my precious experiment?" the voice echoed as dark shadows from the corner of the room started to grow denser. The light started to flicker as the madness in the air vibrated. Whoever's voice it belonged to was even more powerful than Sachiko, and Maka knew exactly whose voice it was.

"Medusa," Maka spoke the cursed name. "Show yourself."

The shadows danced over the floor and walls. The epilepsy-inducing flickers from the light hurt their eyes as the shadows gathered behind Sachiko, from the wall they gathered and out started a figure of pure darkness to form. Colours started to appear and before they knew it, from the shadows a woman stepped forward, the darkness still dancing around her like flames.

Medusa chuckled as she opened her mouth, running her tongue over her upper lip. "Maka Albarn, you sure are annoying. All tries at destroying you, you've evaded, not to forget, you've returned the tongues to my mind slaves." She tilted her head. "And now you think you can ruin Sachiko for me by retuning her tongue?"

Maka braced herself, inhaled loudly as the flickering from the lights calmed down. "All we're going to do is return the tongue and get out of here."

"Oh really? Your friend seems to want a lot more than simply retuning Sachiko's organ."

Maka had felt it too. The moment Medusa arrived Liz had been shaking. Hands tense and shoulders shaking as she tried to contain her emotions. Maka understood her position, she had witnessed Tsubaki killed by Anya, Meme and Tsugumi, and it was all because of the child and woman standing in front of them. It didn't help when the madness was probing at their minds, trying to find a way in.

Maka needed to pay close attention to Liz and Soul.

Liz was about to sneer when Maka held her hand out, shutting her up. It was a good sign. Even though madness was dense within the room, she still had control over herself.

Talking to Medusa wasn't going to do anything good. She tried to worm herself under their skin and drive them up the walls. Medusa was aware of their upper hand. If they returned the tongue, they would be free to return home and escape from here safely. All they needed to do was reach Sachiko.

Maka reached into her bag and retrieved the tongue bag from the messenger bag. She pulled it out and held it in her hand, Medusa's eyes darted to the linen bag in her hand.

Medusa chuckled. "Come here, my child, try to return the tongue, if you dare."

Maka was about to step away from her friends when Liz's grip on her tightened. Maka threw Liz a quizzical gaze.

From the moment Sachiko appeared, her gut had whispered in her mind, but she didn't know what. Liz was sure she would remember someone with a hideous haircut like that but… there was something about Sachiko had had her skin crawling, and it wasn't because she was the source of evil in this place. There was something else, and she couldn't quite know _what_ it was. It was important information, it was all she knew. Sachiko's face jogged her memory, but not enough. She needed to remember.

"There is something odd about Sachiko." Was all Liz whispered to Maka.

"What do you mean?" Black*Star questioned. "She looks just like any other fucked up kids we have met."

"No she isn't. I don't know what it is but… I _know_ I have seen her face somewhere," Liz murmured.

"Whatever it is, we don't have time to figure it out. We are a ticking time bomb in this place and if we stay here too long, the madness will break your minds."

"Then just hand back the tongue," Soul said as he squeezed Maka's hand. "Be. Careful."

Maka nodded and squeezed Soul's hand back before her hand slipped from his grasp. Carefully she headed toward Sachiko who patiently waited for her by Medusa's side. She held out her hand with the bag as she kept her eye on Medusa.

"Go on, take it," Medusa urged.

Maka's stomach dropped as uneasiness started to crawl up her spine. Something was wrong. If the tongue was going to free Sachiko like the other kids, Medusa would try to stop them. Never would she encourage Sachiko to take it and gain her speech back.

Before she could decide, Sachiko grabbed the tongue bag. She took the tongue out of the bag and quizzically looked at it. A wide grin grew on her lips as she placed the tongue in her mouth.

"You fools," Medusa spoke.

The air left Maka's lungs when suddenly she was pushed backwards. The shadow surrounding Medusa split into four and grabbed Maka's throat, catapulting her backwards and she was slammed into the wall alongside her friends. Her messenger bag tumbled onto the floor and spilled out the folder on the floor.

"You honestly thought you could free my precious Sachiko by handing her back her tongue?" Medusa snickered. "All you have done is unleashed the madness within her and freed her from my control. Now she can finally rain hell on this place and creature true madness!"

That was what Medusa wanted. Because Sachiko's tongue was severed, she was under Medusa's control, but now when she was free, the chaos within Sachiko and the madness she produced was uncontrolled. In due time, the whole school could be swallowed by Sachiko's madness.

They had done exactly what Medusa wanted.

And now they would have to pay for it with their lives.

The shadow crushed her throat, cutting of her oxygen flow and if she couldn't get out, she was going to suffocate. All she could see was Sachiko and Medusa. Waves of madness were coming out of Sachiko and Medusa's overjoyed grin and her laughter resonating in the room. The room was growing in madness exponentially and what had already been an overwhelming presence of madness was bone-crushing. If it weren't for the shadow's strong grip on her throat, the madness alone would've given her a headache.

Soul's loud cry drowned out Medusa's laughter and Medusa's face went blank. Just when oxygen was about to run out and the darkness danced around her vision. Soul was suddenly out of Medusa's hold and rushing toward her, tackling her to the ground with the widest grin she had ever seen, a grin that had her cheeks hurting simply looking at it. The shadow's grip on her was released and she fell down to the ground as Soul screamed like a madman and threw punches at her. Maka tried to catch her breath when realization had body running cold.

The insanely fast growing of madness… it wasn't coming from Medusa or Sachiko…

… It was Soul.

This was exactly what Tezca had warned them about. This was exactly what couldn't happen.

And it had.

Liz breathed heavily and Maka turned to face her two friends lying on the floor. The madness was no longer dancing around their minds, it had jabbed into their very souls and infected them with madness.

She was the only one sane.

Things were getting messy fast. Soul was slammed into a wall once Sachiko got involved. Soul growled loudly, showing off his razor-sharp teeth. Soul seemed nothing like his usual self. Not even when the madness from the tongues had sunk their claws into him. He was erratic, acted as if he was an animal on the hunt and his eyes… his eyes were no longer filled with kindness or concern, they were half-lidded and blank. He was drunk on the madness and he loved it.

Chaos broke lose. A raucous chaos broke loose and she found Liz and Black*Star once again hating each other and fighting. Hissing and screaming and accusing each other of letting Tsubaki down.

Medusa laughed overjoyed as she watched Soul and Sachiko measuring up the madness that fuelled their veins, and Soul clearly had the upper hand. Not because of his size, but because Sachiko simply couldn't handle her own madness or Soul's crazy state of mind.

"You are worth gold!" Medusa exclaimed as she watched Soul completely dominate the small child, biting down on Sachiko's arm and tear at the flesh as if he was a savage wolf looking to feed. "Go on! Kill her! Kill her and become my new precious Sachiko!"

Maka had to do something! _Anything_ before her friends succumbed to the madness and killed each other!

As much as she wanted to aid Soul and save him from the fight that had them slamming into walls and hurting each other, Soul was holding up better than Liz and Black*Star and… Liz had been onto something. That something could help them solve this madness.

She darted over to her friends and Black*Star already had the knife out and cuts were delivered. Maka kicked the knife out of his hand and threw herself on them. She had no clue how to control her anti-madness wavelength, but darn she tried. She projected as much of it as she could onto their friends. While they squirmed and were desperate to continue fighting each other, trying to kick Maka off of them, she clung onto them. She didn't care about the kick to her face or the kick to her stomach, she needed to stay close to them.

It was paying off. The madness poisoning their cores started to lift and their aggression started to melt away from them and soon enough, they were conscious.

"Liz, Liz, listen to me." Maka gently slapped her cheeks and Liz's eyes fluttered with confusion. "Hey, you need to listen to me!"

Liz's eyes were transfixed on the messenger bag that laid discarded on the floor and the folder lying on the ground. "The folder…" she whispered. "I remember now. Sachiko's picture was on one of the missing posters but… it wasn't Sachiko's name that was on it."

Maka quickly darted to the messenger bag and so was Medusa. Maka quickly threw herself at Medusa and kicked the messenger bag back to Liz and Black*Star. Maka and Medusa tumbled down on the floor and she found herself with her back pressed into the floor and the darkness rose from the ground like serpents.

"Liz!" Maka screamed. "Quickly! Find her name!"

The serpents of darkness were just about to strike when Medusa was knocked off her and Black*Star locked her arms over her head.

Liz snapped the folder open and she desperately went through the papers, searching for the one missing person's poster she knew was Sachiko. The very first child going missing years before the disappearing of children at Gallows Elementary School took place.

Black*Star grunted as he tried to keep Medusa down on the floor, but it was difficult as he tried to remain conscious and not be caught by the madness again and fight Medusa at the same time. He tried to keep a close eye on his sanity, clinging onto reality and not letting the whispers of blame sweep him away. But one flicker was all it took. The shadow-like serpent dug into his side and pain erupted.

"Black*Star!" Maka ripped him away from Medusa and he was left stumbling on his feet as his hand held to his wound. He breathed heavily as his hand quivered, pulling it slightly away and his palm and fingers were dyed red. They backed slowly away as Medusa rose on her feet and headed toward them.

"Crona Makenshi!" Liz screamed out, holding the missing child poster high in the air. All the fights seemingly were put to a pause. Sachiko snapped her head toward Liz as Soul strangled her. The aggression on Medusa's face melted away at the sound of the name.

Liz had done it.

A cry of a child appeared and right behind Medusa above Sachiko's grave rose a small child, far younger than Sachiko wearing shorts and a shirt, looking far more like a healthy happy child than Sachiko did. It was Crona. Sachiko's real identity and life before she was kidnapped and forced to kill people by Medusa.

"You insolent little brats!" Medusa hissed lunging toward Liz.

Quickly Liz threw the bag toward Maka. "Take it to Crona!" She caught it as she watched Medusa tackle Liz to the ground. Black*Star was already on it even though he was injured. He jumped into the fight to aid Liz. Maka retrieved the stuffed animal from the bag and dashed over to Crona. She kneeled in front of the crying boy with short dark hair and deep blue teary eyes stared back at her.

"Here," Maka held the stuffed rabbit toward the small boy in front of him. "It belongs to you."

"L-little one," he stammered as he grabbed the small rabbit from her hand, clinging onto it rightly as he openly cried tears of joy at receiving his stuffed animal.

"Move on from here and find peace as far away from Medusa as you can," Maka spoke to the small boy.

Crona sniffled but nodded.

Sachiko roared loudly and she turned to see Sachiko lying under Soul as he choked the life out of her. Sachiko burst like a balloon and dark madness erupted, but it soon ebbed away and the madness evaporated and disappeared. The soul-crushing heavy pressure from the madness disappeared and all the madness that had come from Sachiko was clenched clean. Now when Sachiko was gone and Crona moved on to rest in peace, the madness disappeared. It was completely gone.

Soul inhaled loudly and his eyes fluttered repeated as if he had suddenly been awoken from his sleep.

"Nooo!" Medusa's voice rung loudly in the room. "You've ruined everything!"

"Give up! You're nothing without Sachiko!" Maka exclaimed, breathing heavily. "You can no longer use Sachiko to produce and maintain the levels of madness."

Her razor-sharp yellow eyes settled on Medusa, a wide grin growing wide that made Maka's stomach knot. "You may have taken Sachiko from me, but I've an even better new subject."

Everything seemingly froze when in a flash, Medusa was behind Soul and wrapped her arm around his neck and head. Soul huffed as he struggled in her arms, trying to free himself from her grasp.

"You, my new dear Sachiko, you have a broken mind and far better potential than Sachiko ever did. I'll make you an even better Sachiko," Medusa spoke and her tongue ran from his neck up to his ear. He winced when something pricked his neck and her tongue swirled around the spot.

Soul's face was beyond shocked. Face paled and eyes wide as he stared at Maka.

"No Soul!" Maka screamed as tears welled up in her eyes. Black*Star and Liz lashed onto her before she could rush over to Soul. "No! Not him!"

"Oh yes, him, and in fact, I will make a good deal with you. I will let you three get out of Gallows Elementary School, without any strings attached; and I will keep him here."

"No! NO! I'm not leaving you! I'm not going to let you stay behind!" Maka screamed as the tears rolled down her cheeks as she fought in her friends' grasps.

"Maka you got to get out of here," Soul sneered back. "You know I don't have a paper scrap of the ritual. You know I wouldn't be able to escape from here." His jaw tightened as he looked deep into her eyes. "Just… go. Get out of here and return back."

"I'm not going to abandon you!" she hissed.

"Guess what, you will have to and I'm not blaming you for it. Not anyone of you. I lost my piece of the paper doll. I'm okay with this."

"But Soul she is going to torture you and—"

"Don't worry about me! I've told you I'm okay with this and it's _your_ safety that matters to me, it's what've always mattered to me!" He swallowed heavily. "Go… Just… go."

Maka trembled in Black*Star and Liz's arms. Tears trickled down her cheeks and her hands balled. She breathed shakily and she shook her head.

The ground started to shake and in the distance, the sound of a clock rung loud and powerfully.

"The dimension is started to heal itself. If you want to get out in time, I suggest you run out of here quickly," Medusa spoke with pride as if the cat had gotten the cream.

"We have to get away from here," Liz spoke. "Soul _wants_ us to leave. We got to get away from here before we are trapped here too." Liz tried to talk some sense into Maka, but she refused to listen. After everything Soul had done for her and once she had opened her eyes and wanted to start repaying for everything wrong she had done to him, he was slipping from her fingers. She refused to let go. She couldn't let go. There had to be a way! There simply had to be something she could do to save him!

Black*Star and Liz started to pull her away and she pulled at her arms and kicked, everything in order to escape their grasps.

Out from nowhere, heavy footsteps rung and she found Giriko appearing from the behind his dangling corpse, but… something was different. Instead of attacking them, a wide grin grew on his face and gave the smuggest expression toward Medusa.

"Seems like you have met your match," Giriko spoke. "Without Sachiko and the madness you are a lonely hag trapped in this space with lost souls who're going to make the remaining time a nightmare for you."

"Oh shut it, you idiot," Medusa sneered. "Don't you see, I've got a new subject which will make _your_ life a living nightmare."

"Except it won't." Maka released a breath of relief when from the ceiling the three ghosts descended and softly landed all around Medusa, glaring at her.

"We can make it the easy way or the hard way. Either you release him, or we will make you pay for everything you have put us through and, we will take revenge on the behalf of all the lives that have been lost here," Tsugumi spoke with authority as the bell tolled in the distance.

Medusa gritted her teeth. "You think you have won, huh? I'm not scared of three children and a moron."

"You should be." Giriko grinned wide and he ran his tongue over his upper lip. "I'm quite enjoying having my mind back and I'll tell you what, I'm fucking pissed and I'm absolutely _thrilled_ at taking it out on _you_." Giriko pulled at the string and the engine of his chainsaw roared to life. His heavy boots clapped down against the floor as he grew closer.

Medusa's mouth tightened and the three little girls started to tug at her arms. Reluctantly Medusa released Soul and immediately he dashed to Maka. Black*Star and Liz released Maka and she threw her arms around Soul. Soul embraced her tightly and buried his face in her hair.

"I'm so happy you're okay," Maka murmured.

"And you're such a fool," Soul whispered.

"Okay alright, cut that shit out, we got to get out of here!" Black*Star exclaimed as he pressed his hand against the wound and the blood stain on his shirt had only grown bigger.

"Get out of here!" Anya screamed.

"Once the bell stops tolling, you will be trapped in here again!" Tsugumi told.

Without a second to lose, the four of them quickly turned on their heel and started to run. Black*Star did more limping than running, the wound on his side was making him slow. Maka released Soul's hand and she grabbed Black*Star's arm, throwing it over her shoulder and pushed Black*Star to go faster.

Liz led the way, she ran through the corridors and Soul was quick after, making sure Black*Star and Maka was right behind him. The ground started to shake more and the lamps started to swing and flicker even more. Chains suspending the lamps to the ceilings rattled and broke. Maka gasped and they quickly dodged when a ceiling lamp came crashing to the ground.

It didn't end there.

Maka and Black*Star rounded the corner and found Liz cursing loudly when the hole they had come out of had caved in. The earth corridor they had come through had caved in!

They were stuck.

"Now what?!" Liz screamed.

"Don't get your panties in a twist." They looked over the shoulder and found Giriko and the three girls right behind him. "Keep going. There is another way out."

They all started to head forward to the sound of another toll of the bell. Just like Giriko had said, there was another way. With Giriko's guidance, they found a ladder going up. Liz was first to throw herself up the ladder and started to climb it. Soul helped Black*Star up and he started to climb.

"You go first," Maka urged Soul and he shook his head.

"No you."

Without wasting anymore time, Maka pushed him toward the ladder and he complained, but she would take it.

"What happened to Medusa?" Maka asked Giriko.

"She escaped us, but don't worry, we and the lost souls will give her hell." Giriko grabbed a hold of her waist. "Now don't waste any more time with your useless questions!" He threw her up the ladder and she clung onto it, being right after Soul. She climbed right behind him and the three ghost girls were floating right behind him. They reached the top and Soul helped her out of the hole. With just two steps, they were out of some sort of shack and the school's walls surrounding them and a pond was in front of them.

"Come on move it!" Liz hissed. "I know the way out from here!"

Maka threw Black*Star's arm over her shoulders and they headed inside of Gallows Elementary School as fast as they can. The bell's tolls were ear-deafening once they were above ground. The ground shook worse than before, worse than any earthquake they had experienced. The building cracked loudly and beams were falling down from the ceiling and clattering on the ground.

Maka let out a gasp when a ceiling beam came crashing down on the ground, hard enough to crack the floor. Above them a loud crash caught her attention and the ceiling beam breaking and the whole upper level was caving in. Giriko pushed Black*Star and Maka forward and the ceiling caved down on top of him, burying him without a trace left.

Soul looked over his shoulder in horror as the ceiling kept on tumbling down, fast on their heels behind them.

Black*Star untangled himself from Maka and pushed her forward just in time for when the ceiling reached him. Maka screamed his name as he was brought down to the floor and his legs were crushed under the wood and metal. Soul's arms wrapped around her waist and he dragged her backwards, away from Black*Star who coughed blood.

"Soul…" Black*Star gritted out. "A promise is a promise." In his hand was a student ID folder. He threw it just before the rest of the upper level caved in over him and Soul dived for the student ID flying through the air. It curved and Soul chased after the student ID. It curved even more as it dived down through the cracks in the floor, never to be retrieved.


	20. Soul Evans

Chapter 20

_Soul Evans_

Maka couldn't swallow the horror of watching the one last hope of Soul surviving literally slipping from his fingers and falling down through the cracks. The only hopes Soul had… it was gone.

Before she knew it, Liz yanked at her hand and pulled her away to the sound of the bell tolling. She screamed in sorrow, simply staring at the spot where Black*Star was buried underneath the wood and metal, where blood started to seep out from underneath it. Soul pushed at her and Liz yanked at her to continue.

Tsugumi was running right beside them and Anya was at the end of the corridor, pointing them in the right direction. The familiar shelves and children's shoes came into view and before they knew it, they ran out on the grass and the rain splattered on their skin.

"Don't go too far out! There are mines!" Liz warned. "We got to perform the Sachiko Ever After charm quickly!"

This was really it.

This was the moment when they _had to_ perform it and escape from there. Only Maka and Liz had their paper scrap from the ritual. Maka looked over her shoulder and found Soul standing right behind her, surviving through all of this hell and now when they were so close, they would have to leave him behind all because of a stupid lack of a paper.

"I can't leave you," Maka whispered. She inhaled shakily as new tears blurred her vision. "I can't leave you behind after all of this."

"You will have to. You can't perform the ritual with only one person," Soul spoke softly as if this wasn't the moment where they would part and Soul would be as good as dead in this place. All alone. Left to die along their dead friends.

"But what will happen to you?" Maka asked.

"Don't worry about me. I won't let Medusa get her hands on me," he commented as his hand patted his pocket where she knew his pocket knife was. Simply connecting the two made her lose her breath and new tears rose in her eyes.

"Maka come on," Liz pleaded as she tugged at her arm. "I want to live."

She bit her lower lip. She pulled herself out from Liz's gasp. In two quick steps, she crossed the space and smashed her lips against Soul's. Soul took a step back from the force, but wasted no time. He returned eagerly her hard kisses and wrapped his arms around her waist. Tears trickled down her cheeks and she allowed herself to be in the moment to the sound of the bell tolling. She communicated the feelings she hadn't given a voice to before through their heated kiss. There was nothing more she wanted than to live in the moment. Forever be wrapped in his arms and letting the feelings she had suppressed for so long run free.

But they couldn't.

Soul pulled away from the kiss and embraced her tightly. She heard the crinkle of paper and Soul's hand pushing something down into her skirt pocket. "Promise me you will read it when you're out of here and safe. Not a moment before then."

"I promise," she whispered.

Soul pushed her away by the shoulders. "Now go. Before it's too late."

Her pulsing lower lip quivered as she nodded. Turning her back on him ripped her heart apart as she retrieved the student ID from her pocket. Liz had already pulled out hers and had her piece of paper from the ritual ready. Maka's hands quivered and her eyes fluttered shut.

"I-I can't do it," she whispered.

"Look, I don't care who of you two do the ritual. All I care is that _one of you_ does it! Give Soul the piece of paper then!" Liz sneered in annoyance. "We don't have room for hesitation!"

"You should take it!" Maka exclaimed as she turned around, holding the student ID out to him. "It is my fault we're all here and I'm the person who least deserve to return back."

"No," Soul sternly said as he closed her hand around it. "I lost mine. It's yours. I'm not going to take it from you." The bell tolled.

"Come on and just choose!" Liz exclaimed.

"No! There has to be another piece of paper!" Maka insisted.

"Miss Marie's is lost, Patty's is also lost. So are Tsubaki's and Black*Star's gone too but…" Maka's eyes widened. "Kid! He wasn't killed by the ghosts! And he jumped out of the window to the forest! He could still have his student ID on him and the piece of paper!"

The new-found information sparked hope in Soul's eyes and he was already on it. "I'm going to look for his body."

"I'll go with you—"

Maka was quickly interrupted by Liz grabbing her wrist and pulling her backwards as Soul started to run, following the edge of the wall. "Oh no you don't. I'm not going to let you get yourself killed and force me to stay in this place."

Maka bit her lower lip and she pleadingly looked at Tsugumi. "Please go with him."

Tsugumi nodded dutifully and she followed where Soul had disappeared around the corner.

Soul ran as fast as he could. He pumped his arms as he ran close to the walls, not straying too far in fear of running into one of the mines Liz had talked about. Tsugumi floated right beside him as he ran. He grabbed a hold of a downpipe to turn around the corner faster.

There Kid's body lay. Soul skidded against the wet grass as he dived to Kid's side. No time was wasted. He snaked his hands into his pockets searching for the one chance he had at surviving. For the first time he prayed to gain some luck. In the last ten minutes he had already been unlucky. He patted Kid's body down, not caring of the fact he got Patty's blood on him. The bell tolled loudly.

His eyes widened when he found something stiffer. He shoved his hand into the pocket and retrieved Kid's student ID. He unfolded it and just like Maka had guessed, Kid's piece of paper was there.

There was no time to lose. He ran as quickly as he could. Feet slipping on the wet grass as he pumped his arms, willing himself to run faster. He dashed around the corner and when Maka and Liz was still where he left them, relief washed over him as he victoriously waved the student ID over his head.

He skidded to a stop as him and Maka pulled out their piece of the paper doll out.

"Remember, say Sachiko we beg of you four times, okay?" Maka repeated the instructions. They nodded and their eyes fluttered shut to the sound of the bell tolling.

Sachiko we beg of you

Sachiko we beg of you

Sachiko we beg of you

Sachiko we beg of you

In their minds they chanted the charm and before they knew it, the sound of the bell's tolls grew more distant. The splatter of the rain grew quieter and only darkness remained.

The next time they opened their eyes, they were back in their homeroom classroom.

They had survived.


	21. In The Wake of Tragedy

Epilogue

_In The Wake of Tragedy_

There were no words that could describe what they had gone through. Absolutely no amount of tears could make them forget of the horrors they had witnessed inside of Gallows Elementary School. They had lost friends and they would never return.

The janitor had been making his rounds through the school and found them passed out in the classroom. The janitor feared the worst when he had seen the condition they had been in and called an ambulance. They had been taken to the hospital and been treated for their wounds. The doctors and nurses had bombarded them with questions why they were passed out in the classroom with all kinds of wounds, but they couldn't explain. They insisted to report it to the police and started an assault investigation, but the three refused. The doctors and nurses were worried and discussed about filing a report to social services, but eventually it was dropped. What good would it do? Nothing.

Maka and Liz mostly had cuts and bruises and they were cleaned and stitched up. They had been discharged after a few hours. Soul wasn't as lucky. When they were passed out, they had to have been gone for quite a while because Soul had developed a fever. The doctors had been worried and taken blood tests, which came out Soul had sepsis. The cuts on Soul's cheek and wrist had become infected and it had to have happened when he fell down into the pool. She had cleaned out the wound too late or the rubbing alcohol wasn't as strong as she thought it was, which was most likely the case. Then there was his tiny wound on his neck Medusa delivered to him that had her concerned.

After Liz had been treated, she left Soul's leather jacket behind and she had left them behind without a word spoken. Maka however… had a difficult time leaving Soul. She had remained by Soul's side. She had stayed till visitation hours had ended and when morning came, she had waited by the door when visitation hours started once again. She was there because Soul needed her and… she needed him too.

Most of the time Soul had been sleeping and a coat of sweat always covered his face. In his sleep he would moan, twitch and turning uneasily. He had experienced many nightmares and Maka knew exactly what they were about because… she had them too. When she woke up from the nightmares, the first person she thought about was Soul. Where was he? Was he safe? Always anxiety would hit her when she didn't find Soul beside her, but tried to calm herself down. He was at the hospital getting treated. He was safe. _They_ were safe.

In the hospital she had always come with fresh flowers she placed in the vase. Occasionally Wes would swing by during his lunchbreak or in the evening, keeping Soul and her company as Soul remained sick. Wes had told her he felt at ease knowing Maka was with him most of the day.

Liz hadn't kept in contact with them. Since they escaped Gallows Elementary School, she hadn't heard a word from her. She had sent texts and tried to call Liz to hear how she was holding up and giving updates on Soul's condition, but she never answered or replied. Sometimes she found herself wondering why, but then it hit her. Liz still blamed her for Patty, Kid and Tsubaki's deaths. She blamed it all on her.

It wasn't the only thing. All the pictures of their friends were gone. The pictures still remained but _they_ were missing. In the photo they had taken at the end of their junior year at the beach, they were _missing_. She knew in the picture Soul had his arm around Black*Star's shoulders but Soul's arm was floating in the air and Black*Star was missing! She had searched for all of their social media, but they were completely gone. Maka had gone inside of the school's martial arts' deathbook page Black*Star was missing there. The pictures she knew were supposed to be there of Black*Star and gold medals… they were gone. Not just gone. It was as if he never existed and he never won the gold medals.

It was as if they never existed.

The reality she couldn't take comfort in the rest of her classmates about the passing of her friends hurt her beyond doubt. There would be no funeral for them. There was no one who remembered them. Except for them.

It made the situation worse. The fact Liz wasn't answering her texts and Soul was sick in the hospital. She was all alone in it and she didn't know how to handle it.

There was no way she could go to school. With Gallows Elementary School being at the same spot and knowing underneath the school still remained human bones from its victims, she couldn't return there. There was no way she could return there. Her grades were dropping fast and her classmates were worried about their class rep. The teachers rung daily to her father to inquire on how she was doing and if she was to return to school anytime soon, but he always gave them the same vague answer. He didn't know and he was going to ask her. He tried to ask her what had changed and why she didn't want to go to school, but she didn't say anything. At one point the school's counsellor had called her father to ask if something was going on in Maka's life he knew of and if she wanted to talk about it and get help, their door was open for her. The counsellor had even gone as far as make an appointment and asked her to come, but of course she didn't show up. She was all alone in this and talking to someone other than Liz or Soul wouldn't help her.

The rumours didn't help her situation either. When she had been in the flower shop buying flowers to put on Soul's night stand in the hospital, she had heard two adults gossiping about what their children had heard happened at the school. Rumours were Soul and Maka had been secretly dating for months and something had happened in the summer and they had taken a break, that's why they had been so distanced in school. At the day of the Halloween festival, Soul and Liz had hooked up in the classroom after everyone had cleaned up and left, but Maka had been searching for Soul to mend together their broken relationship and get back together, that's when she had caught them having sex in the classroom. The fight had broken out and they had ended up in that state.

It was the most ridiculous rumour she had ever heard. Liz was definitely not Soul's type and Soul was as far away from being Liz's type. Not to forget she wasn't even interested in Soul's private parts. At all. And Soul and she hadn't even been together. Ever. The thought had left a sour taste in her mouth.

It was difficult. Watching Soul sick and struggling on his own and she couldn't do anything but hold his hand and keep him company. Soul had remained hospitalised for quite some time. The doctors had been puzzled on how come he had remained sick for so long since he didn't have any sort of organ infection, gaining sepsis from cuts were rare and the patient often grew healthy fast when it was discovered in time like Soul's case, but he didn't bounce back. While the doctors were puzzled, she couldn't help but to look at the prickle at his neck. Whatever Medusa had done to him, _this_ was what it was and she feared there was more to it.

It wasn't until three weeks his condition started to get better and slowly the fever went down and he got better. Three weeks and four days after she was discharge Soul was finally discharged from the hospital to return home.

She had lain awake in her bed on Soul's first night discharged from the hospital, not being able to fall asleep. In her head she relived her friends' deaths. Seeing Patty's remains splattered on the blackboard, watching Kid jump out of the window, arriving too late and finding Miss Marie dead and seeing Black*Star get crushed under the ceiling beams.

And it had been all her fault.

If she hadn't found the charm, none of it would've happened. They would've still been alive. She had read countless of warnings and read about unexplainable paranormal activity and yet she still decided to mess with the occult, knowing very well it could come to haunt her, but still she went on and found it exciting in provoking the occult.

All her books about the occult, her tarot cards, her Ouija board, even fictional movies about paranormal activity was thrown away. Anything remotely linked to the occult or spirits, she had gotten rid of, and it was quite _a lot_. Most of her book shelves were empty and her walls were bare from the posters.

Her eyes were glued toward the student ID on her night stand with Soul's picture on it and the wrapper of a chocolate bar with "I like you. Will you date me?" written in Soul's writing.

Since she had discovered the fact her student ID didn't belong to her and… Soul had actually _swapped_ their student IDs, rocking her into the illusion it was actually _him_ who lost his student ID, and not her. The thought unnerved her beyond imagination. She had been fooled and… Soul had put her life before his own. He had been willing to stay behind, give his life for her all so she could get out of there safely when all she had done was… was terrible things. She had broken his heart, hurt him and… he was in the situation because of her, and he _still_ put her before himself. It was mind-bobbling and… it only further nurtured the guilt in her heart.

It was around midnight and it was about time to get up. Only two hours earlier she had received her first text from Liz since they were brought to the hospital, asking her to meet her at the hill far away from school.

She threw the blanket off of her and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. She got dressed and she packed down his student ID and the chocolate wrapping in her pocket. Quietly she snuck out of the house without waking up her father.

She headed down the street in the darkness of the night. She wandered to the hill where Liz was already waiting for her with her hair tied up in a high ponytail using Tsubaki's scrunchie. Beside her on the ground was a backpack. Liz turned around when she heard her making her way up the hill.

"I was starting to wonder you weren't going to show up," she said.

"I wouldn't let you down when you asked to see me," Maka said.

"Don't get me wrong. I didn't ask you to come here because I need you. You're the last person I would find comfort in to put it bluntly," Liz spoke without any regard of her feelings and it stung hearing it spoken out honestly. "How's Soul doing?"

"He's recovering and he was discharged from the hospital earlier this evening."

"Good." Liz shoved her hands into her pockets. "Good at least one of us got something good out from this ordeal."

Maka sighed. "You know this wasn't some sort of way for Soul and I to… you know."

"I know. But it still happened because of it all." Liz visibly swallowed heavily. "You got the love you wanted and I lost everyone."

"And I lost Black*Star, you know."

Liz snorted as she looked away. "Are we comparing losses now, huh?"

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant it as we have both lost friends, family and people we love, but we still have each other. Only you, Soul and I remember them and can talk about this. We are here for you."

Liz shook her head. "Yeah, I don't think so," she rejected. "The only reason I'm really here is to tell you I'm leaving Death City so you can stop with all the calling and texting, you can delete my number while you're at it because yours are gone from my phone."

"You're leaving?"

"Yes."

"But where will you go?"

"I won't tell you where, but anywhere but here is a good destination in my book." Liz started to head toward Maka, her shoulder brushing hers as she went passed her. "Hope you have a happy life with your boy," she sneered.

She wanted to say something, _anything_ , to sooth Liz's pain and mend their broken relationship, but she knew it was impossible. Liz was hurting beyond imagination. And she was putting the blame on her. As much as she wanted to help her, she simply couldn't on the grounds it was _her_ who presented the Sachiko Ever After charm to them.

She watched Liz leave and she knew it was the last time she would ever see her friend. It hurt. Liz had been a close friend of hers and it sucked to lose her friendship, but there was nothing she could do. She cared for Liz and her well-being, and because of that she had to let her go.

She didn't want to be alone. Not after saying goodbye to Liz forever. She needed to find the one person who always made her feel better and the one person she couldn't stray from. She left the hill and started heading toward Wes's apartment. As time went by, her steps only quickened until she found herself running to Wes's apartment. She ran up the stairs and she rang the doorbell. Quicker than she thought, the door unlocked and by the door stood Soul.

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" Soul asked.

"I think you know exactly what I'm going through," Maka plainly answered. "Can I stay at your place for the night?"

Soul didn't answer, he simply opened the door wider and allowed her to step inside. He closed the door after her and locked the door. "We got to be quiet. Wes is asleep."

She nodded as she took off her jacket and hung it on the rack, kicking off her shoes with the help of her toes. Just like the time in Gallows Elementary School, their hands found each other and they headed deeper inside of the apartment. Soul led her to his small bed in the living room.

"You can take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

Maka gently shook her head as she pulled at his hand, preventing him from pulling the mattress from underneath his bed. "You don't have to. Your bed is big enough for both of us. If you are okay with sharing that is."

His bed wasn't big at all. Two people could fit, but they would have to sleep close to each other. A nearness Maka longed for. The comfort she had needed for so long and… she really needed it.

Soul waved it away. "It's okay." He released her hand and crawled under his blanket. He invitingly held it up and allowed Maka to crawl under it. She snuggled close to his chest, tucking her head under his chin as he wrapped the blanket around her. His arms snaked around her waist and held her close to him.

This was exactly what she had needed. Smelling his deodorant, feeling his warmth skin against hers. All the stress and the sensation of loneliness were gone in an instance as soon as she was with him. Her partner in crime in Gallows Elementary School. It was true what they said, going through something traumatic with someone was either going to make or break them and… it had healed their already broken relationship.

"How are you holding up…?" Soul murmured against her head.

"Better now when you're healthy and discharged from the hospital."

"How did you feel before I was discharged from the hospital?"

Maka let out a heavy sighed and buried her face further into his neck. "You have no idea."

"If you want to talk about it I'm all ears."

"I do…" her eyes fluttered shut. "It's just… it's a lot going on. Liz asked to see me and I met up with her only an hour ago and… she despises me. She hates me and blames it all on me and… she said we could delete her number because she didn't want to hear from us ever again. Ox has been hackling me about my grades dropping and my father isn't making it easier. It has just been hard dealing with all of this and with you been sick and… I've felt so lonely in all of this."

"I'm here now. You know I'm always here for you."

She knew. Oh how she knew. He had put her life before his own in so many ways, even before they were spirited away to Gallows Elementary School. Always had he been there, supporting her and being absolutely what she wanted and needed… but she had been too stupid and stubborn to see it, rather looking at him as a cheating pig like her father instead of the loyal, kind, genuine and decent guy he was.

"It's…" she exhaled loudly. "I-I honestly don't know what to do. With Black*Star gone and… I-I just can't do anything. It's my fault all of them are gone and—"

"It's not your fault," Soul punctuated. "You didn't know this would happen and you didn't intend on this to happen. What happened is tragic and it sucks losing our friends… but what can we do? It won't change the fact they won't return to us."

It was true. Patty, Black*Star, Kid, Tsubaki and Miss Marie won't return. They were stuck in Gallows Elementary to forever suffer the pain of the moment they died. They were stuck there to wallow in their own pain for eternity, and who knew exactly what Medusa was doing over there. She feared for her friends' peace in their passing but… as much as she told herself Black*Star and Tsubaki was reunited and could be together in Gallows Elementary School, and Patty and Kid had each other while Miss Marie had a bunch of students she could teach and take care for… it still didn't help her move on. They still had to bear the pain of their death… and Patty and Black*Star had died a horrible death getting crushed and splattered.

Never would she forgive herself.

"You might have a point, but I am the first link in the chain. If I had taken the threat of the occults more seriously than a means of entertaining… this would've never happened."

"Maybe so, but honestly, you've introduced a lot of occult stuff. The board, creepy stories and weird bathroom mirror rituals. Out of all the things you have studied and tried out, could you foresee _this_ would happen because of the charm?"

Maka went quiet. Deep in her heart, she knew she would've never in a million years thought _this_ would happen. Never would she think she would lose Black*Star and her friends… but it was still her fault. The occult weren't to mess with. She should've learned that lesson a long time ago. She ignored the warnings to stay away from the paranormal activity and… she still did it. Never would she forget what she had done to them.

"What do you want me to say?" Maka pulled away slightly from Soul to look into his red eyes. "That what I did was unintentional and I forgive myself? Soul I… I can never say that. It's my fault they are gone and I'm never going to forgive myself."

"And I'm sorry you're feeling that way because in no shape or form am I blaming this on you and I know Black*Star doesn't either. We see this isn't your fault."

"But not everybody does…" Maka didn't need to say her name.

"Then focus on the people who do. Liz she isn't…" Soul inhaled loudly. "… unfortunately we have lost Liz's friendship, but focus on the good in your life and we will make it."

She had no clue how he was dealing with all of this. They had been through painful events and almost gotten themselves killed. Soul… he had almost died. He had almost drowned in the pool and… yet he was so calm.

"How do you do it?" Maka asked.

"Doing what?"

"Deal with all of this."

He shrugged his shoulders as he allows his thumb to caress her back. "I don't know… I'm just… I don't know. I have the nightmares."

"I do too."

Soul gently shook his head. "No… it's not nightmares about _that_. I don't know what kind of nightmare it is… Every night I dream about this demon. It's always taunting me to let loose and encouraging me to lose my mind again… you know, get caught in the madness again." He swallowed loudly. "It's scary because… sometimes, I can swear I can hear its voice when I'm awake. Always whispering in my ear to let go and…" his voice faltered, not daring to finish his sentence. "It all started in the hospital and… what if it's still Medusa trying to get inside of my head and making me her new Sachiko?"

She had witnessed what had happened to him when the madness had overtaken him. And it wasn't a sight she wanted to see. Soul… he didn't deserve it. He had gone through a rough life, not rough like Liz's life, but rough in a different meaning. One that broke down his identity and the only way for him to gain the power back, was to leave his parents and the comfortable life behind.

"Do you think you're going to be caught by the madness again?" She pulled slightly away from him in order to look into his red eyes. Her hand cupped his cheek and her thumb traced the scar left to always remind them of what had taken place.

"It's what I fear."

Her arm around his waist tightened as she buried her face in his neck. "You're not. I-I'll be here with you. I'm not going to let you get swept by the madness ever again."

"That isn't all… you said even though Medusa was dead… she still managed to kill Giriko and drag him to Gallows Elementary School. What if that will happen to me?"

"No it won't happen. The ghosts and Crona are free. Medusa has no more power and she's trapped in the space."

"But someone like me could end up there and… you know she can regain the power she lost."

"We will get the page taken down and make sure not a word about the Sachiko Ever After charm exists."

Soul went silent.

She feared Medusa's reach too. Medusa had set her eyes on Soul and… from the memories Giriko had shared, Crona had lived a horrible life and never would she wish anyone to live a life like that. Soul didn't deserve to live like that and… She couldn't part from him. She couldn't.

She fisted his shirt and she nuzzled her nose into the edge of his hair. "I'm not going to let her take you away from me." She swallowed heavily.

"I hope she won't."

"She won't," Maka assured.

The conversation ended and they lay in the bed, wrapped in each other's arms, enjoying the closeness of the other. They hadn't been this close since the moment they shared in the broom closet. A moment she hadn't forgotten and wished for more.

"I want to be your girlfriend," Maka finally whispered in his ear.

A wide smile spread on his face and he nuzzled his nose into her lose hair. "That's cool."

They lay wide awake in Soul's bed in silence, simply finding comfort in each other.

The traumatic events that had taken place within Gallows Elementary School would forever haunt them till the day they breathed their last breaths. Never would their wounds heal and the scars would remind them every day of the friends they had lost. Only in each other they could find a moment of comfort in the world of hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH BOY! This has been the most pain-inducing stories I have ever written. It was incredibly hard writing from so many people's point of view, keeping up with the plots at the same time as I tried to flesh out the characters and make their own stories interesting. I can say never again will I write a story like this. But I hope you enjoyed this story anyway!
> 
> I want to thank the mods for Resbang who organized the event! It was a whole lot of fun writing this fic and I want to thank my artist Purr who created the most amazing set of gifs for this fic. You can find them on here: http://darkpurply.tumblr.com/post/182185261918/resbang-2018-the-dead-tell-no-tale
> 
> That's it! I'm out and going to bed!


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